Comrades, The Treaty Principles Referendum was the distraction, but the Regulatory Standards Bill is the real win for the Neoliberal Right…
While all the media and popular coverage seems to have been directed towards the Treaty Principles Bill, David Seymour and Act are poised to achieve another substantive victory that has been over 20 years in the making.
The Regulatory Standards Bill, first introduced to Parliament in 2006 and reintroduced last year by Seymour in his role as the Minister for Regulation, is under the public consultation phase (quietly started on the day of the arrival of the hikoi in Wellington).
It will be taken up by parliament in early 2025.
As detailed by Melanie Nelson, the passage of this bill (an agreement in the coalition Government’s negotiations) will help Act to realise a longstanding goal of their neoliberal policy agenda, which is to enshrine the rights of individuals, particularly property holders and business owners, over the collective good of all New Zealanders.
“The focus on the Treaty Principles Bill risks overshadowing its dull but dangerous cousin, the Regulatory Standards Bill, which is currently open for consultation,” she writes. “The Regulatory Standards Bill is the brainchild of the Business Roundtable (now the New Zealand Initiative) and has been attempted three times previously by the Act Party.”
If passed, the bill will establish a hand-picked regulatory board to ensure that law-making complies with its regulatory “principles” and to deal with complaints of violations (the public can even call in their complaints via a newly established tip line).
…ACT have tailored an economic straight jacket that will make it impossible to counter corporate interests ever again.
If this passes, Corporations will be able to stop any environmental or taxation policy they don’t like.
The radical nature of this should terrify every New Zealander.
What is most concerning is that this legislation is the Atlas Network playbook…
And who, in turn, are the junktanks? Many refuse to divulge who funds them, but as information has trickled out we have discovered that the Atlas Network itself and many of its members have taken money from funding networks set up by the Koch brothers and other rightwing billionaires, and from oil, coal and tobacco companiesand other life-defying interests. The junktanks are merely the intermediaries. They go into battle on behalf of their donors, in the class war waged by the rich against the poor. When a government responds to the demands of the network, it responds, in reality, to the money that funds it.
…Oil, coal, tobacco, right wing billionaires, the fucking Koch brothers, dark money influencing our political system so much so that we see the exact same agenda being rolled out here!
I didn’t believe most Kiwis voting National, NZF or ACT had much idea what exactly they were voting for and I don’t think the vast majority of Kiwis have any comprehension just how far right this Government actually is.
Setting up a legislative body dominated by corporate interests to test future laws against would be the end of NZ as a functioning democracy.
Sure it would be Government elected by the people, but it be run by law decided by corporations…
This regulatory board would have sweeping oversight over all proposed government regulations, with the ability to make non-binding recommendations.
Furthermore, all proposed legislation or ministerial statutes (with a compliance review of all existing laws within 10 years) would fall under the purview of the new regulatory board, severely curtailing the ability of the government to regulate harmful business practices or corporate exploitation, even if such regulation is in the public interest.
More seriously the current version of the bill has removed any role of the courts to provide regulatory oversight or interpretation; a move that seems to be explicitly targeted at blocking any incorporation of Te Tiriti into the regulatory discussion.
…so the Courts would be effectively bypassed by this new regulatory board.
At some stage New Zealand, you are going to have to either resist this slide to corporate fascism or you are merely going to be puppets to them.
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‘I didn’t believe most Kiwis voting National, NZF or ACT had much idea what exactly they were voting for ‘
Martyn that could stop at ‘much idea’.
People voting National -‘ Me not happy Labour. Keep me alive during pandemic but me not rich and Jacinda young woman(not old man). Trevor say National better at money stuff. Me vote national, see if better (if not me vote Labour again’).
People voting ACT, ‘Gotta stop the natives taking everything away from us and forcing us to learn their language. Gotta make rich people richer so more wealth can trickle down. David Seymour pretty boy. Not silly young woman with baby!”
People voting NZF – ‘Winston Peters got us the Gold Card. We owe it to him to keep voting NZF.’
Na mate National only good at taking from the middle and working class and giving to the corporate elite . Labour has always since Muldoon handed back books in better condition than National gave them to them it’s a fallacy that Labour is not good with money they just spend it on the middle and poor . The housing crisis was caused by National and no Capital gains tax . What people call the Jacinda tax was an attempt to cool the home ownership market by getting wealthy investor out and it was working, National borrowed money to replace that tax and give it back to landlords so they won’t sell the houses now ! Labour is much better at managing the economy fairly for the average person
Seymour’s popularity is going fast down he will be all alone again soon
Act ,Greens ,TPM,are the parties that fit with a small percentage of voters so will not go up or down by much . NZF voters can be drawn by main the main parties and as Winston ages his personal votes will slide .National and Labour votes are based on their leaders likeableity then on their policies. This is why NZ does not do well .
Wait until National wake up to who and what is corroding their electoral ground.
Luxy the polished turd hasn’t a clue what’s happening
National should be stopping David Seymour causing all this racism he had no right to change the Treaty of Waitangi it was only between the Maori and the Crown.
His trying to change the narrative is absolutely disgusting and ridiculous his twisting it with lies has caused so much hatred.
He should be stood down because of the racism he has caused
So next time the left is in power can it not trump the regulatory standards bill with the socialist cooperative principles standards bill?
If the nz companies office and the IRD and the US IRS via the local banks can demand to know who are the beneficial owners of a company why can’t the NZ govt/public regulate a demand to know the source of funds for the junktanks and lobbyists. Who are the beneficial influencers? Like you know … ‘Transparency’.
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