Regulations compliance removes billions of dollars from New Zealand's economy every year, David Seymour says. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER
Regulations Minister David Seymour has announced an online portal for people to lodge "red tape horror stories" with the Regulations Ministry.
The ACT leader says regulations compliance removes billions of dollars from New Zealand's economy every year, with NZIER estimating the cost to businesses at $5 billion in 2015.
"We want to hear from tradies, farmers, teachers, chefs, engineers - every person doing productive work. If there's red tape in your industry that needs cutting, we want to know about it. The Ministry might not be able to resolve every issue that's brought to its attention straight away, but we are keen to understand more about experiences with regulation," he said.
RNZ has sought further information about how the tipline is funded and how many staff monitor it.
It comes on the same day as consultation opens on the Regulatory Standards Bill.
Seymour, in a separate media release, said New Zealand's low wages could be blamed on low productivity, which could in turn be blamed on poor regulation.
"The Bill will codify principles of good regulatory practice for existing and future regulations," he said. "It seeks to bring the same level of discipline to regulation that the Public Finance Act brings to public spending, with the Ministry for Regulation playing a role akin to that of Treasury."
His statement particularly acknowledged Dr Bryce Wilkinson's book Constraining Government Regulation, saying it "laid important groundword for this Bill", and thanked Dr Graham Scott, Jack Hodder KC, and other members of the Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce.
Consultation closes on Monday 13 January 2025.
The announcements were made on Tuesday, the same day as the hīkoi mō te Tiriti - a thousands-strong march partly in response to Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill.
