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New Zealand has been "lagging behind" the rest of the world in offering repairs for products, an advocate says.
Kiwis are now a step closer to the guaranteed right to repair the products they own with the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill passing its first reading in Parliament on Wednesday.
If successful, the legislation would compel manufacturers to ensure repair facilities and spare parts for their products are made available in New Zealand.
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson who has sponsored the bill said it combined climate action with cost of living relief.
"The Right to Repair is about empowering consumers to repair what they own, protecting them from recurring costs and in turn preventing more and more waste going to landfill and polluting our environment."
She believed it would favour consumers over big corporates "who build obsolescence into their products so people have to keep coming back to replace their things and spend more of their money".
It would benefit households as well as businesses including farmers who would be able to fix the appliances and the tools they needed to do their jobs.
Auckland University Professor and member of the Right to Repair Coalition Alex Simms calls it a "first step".
It was a worldwide movement and New Zealand was "lagging behind", she told Morning Report.
Simms said one drawback of the existing bill was that the Commerce Commission would not have the power to compel manufacturers to comply because it is an amendment to the Consumer Guarantees Act.
One suggestion that arose during the debate in Parliament was that it should become part of the Fair Trading Act so that ComCom would have enforcement powers.
Also, currently if a consumer takes an item such as a phone to an unauthorised repairer a warranty becomes void - that would no longer apply if the bill became law, Professor Simms said.
"That will really help people get stuff fixed a lot cheaper."
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