19 Comments
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Mark Behnke's avatar

Well done. Thank you for reminding people.

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Catherine Knight's avatar

It's all part of the service, Mark! ;-)

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Eleanor Mayer's avatar

Handwritten and posted just after Christmas Day . 👍

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Catherine Knight's avatar

Good effort, Eleanor!

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CambridgeDoffoG's avatar

Any chance that you could share your (assumed) submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill?

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Catherine Knight's avatar

Thank you for your comment. I haven't yet drafted anything but now that I have the Treaty Principles submission out of the way, I need to get on to that one next. The danger with the Regulatory Standards Bill is of course that (unlike the TPB) National has agreed to support it through to enactment, so the stakes are high.

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CambridgeDoffoG's avatar

Absolutely a danger. Another concern is that the Bill has not had the publicity needed to get people to make submissions. It sounds complicated and is a bit daunting for many people to make a simple submission on such an important topic. I think that’s why I haven’t done so yet, but am reading posts on Substack to help me clarify my thoughts before I write it.

Also I have the feeling (which threatens to overwhelm my good intentions) of ‘What’s the point? This govt just seems to ignore or dismiss our protests’. Aaaagh…..

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Catherine Knight's avatar

OK so I have done some digging. Commentary on the Regulatory Standards Bill has not been super-clear on its status or the nature of the consultation currently underway.

The consultation currently underway on this bill is NOT, as I understand it, the Parliamentary process. This bill has not yet been introduced to the House and has not been referred to Select Committee. In fact the bill has not yet been drafted.

The process is a public consultation led by the Ministry for Regulation. According to their LinkedIn post back in December:

"We’re consulting on the key components of a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill until Monday 13 January 2025. Your views and comments will be used to help determine the final shape of the Bill that will be introduced into the House next year. To make a submission go to our engagement hub https://lnkd.in/g6-g7-FT"

No exposure (early) draft of the bill has been made available, though no doubt it will be closely based on the drafting of the three previous attempts to get this legislation through (2007, 2011, 2021). And the supporting documents like the Regulatory Impact Statement and Cabinet paper are heavily redacted of the parts that are not favourable to the government (eg potential breaches of the Treaty of Waitangi).

So it is a bit hard to have an informed view at the moment. I see two options. Submit as part of the Ministry of Regulation's process. You can respond to each of the 35 questions in their discussion document https://www.regulation.govt.nz/assets/Publication-Documents/Have-your-say-on-the-proposed-Regulatory-Standards-Bill-final.pdf or you can ignore the questions and submit freestyle as Professor Jane Kelsey did https://substack.com/home/post/p-153550339?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web. Or wait until the bill is actually introduced and referred to Select Committee. Or third option is to do both, of course!

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sue heggie's avatar

I used Prof Kelsey’s expert submission as the online form was full of leading questions and deliberately obtuse language. I simply emailed that I supported her views in their entirety, attached the link and asked why we wouldn’t want to take cognisance of someone who has seen this bill thrown out three times and has staunchly opposed it with good reason since 2010. Thank goodness for her perseverance and intellect.

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Catherine Knight's avatar

Good thinking!

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sue heggie's avatar

Except they’ve announced that if you use the same wording they will count it as one. Ridiculous! Why wouldn’t you use someone’s freely shared submission when they know do much about it.

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Dan's avatar

Excellent work Catherine. Thanks so much for sharing. Starting my submission today.

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Catherine Knight's avatar

Great to hear - good luck with it Dan!

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B Insull's avatar

Brilliant. Thank you.

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Dr Sea's avatar

Great submission, thanks for sharing! I’d love to see what you’ll write for the Regulatory Standards Bill cause it’s a bit more murky, as you say…

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Catherine Knight's avatar

Thank you Dr Sea! Yes, I am a bit undecided about whether to submit as a part of the Ministry pre-consultation. I think I may keep my powder dry until there is a draft bill and are able to comment on something concrete (ie as part of the parliamentary process).

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Dr Sea's avatar

That sounds good to me - I was wavering about that too. Pretty unheard of to request submissions without telling folks what to submit on, no? But I guess that’s what Seymour wants - get submissions only from his side so he can claim a “mandate” when the actual Bill is drafted?

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Kumara Republic's avatar

I've submitted well in advance. And originally posted on BlueSky:

What would a Remuera toff think, if an iwi/tribe drilled for oil & gas on their carefully mown lawn while taking all the profits & without asking for permission?

The inverse is the basic idea behind the Treaty Principles Bill, Regulatory Standards Bill, & Fast Track Bill.

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Jane's avatar

Thanks Catherine, I've done mine. You have expressed my thoughts very well.

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