Govt ridiculed over deeply ironic use of urgency for Regulatory Standards Bill – Greenpeace

The Government’s planned use of urgency for the first reading of the Regulatory Standards Bill, introduced by ACT leader David Seymour, is being ridiculed by Greenpeace as deeply ironic.

This use of urgency, during Budget week, comes despite widespread public concern, including over 20,000 submissions on the bill, of which only 0.33% were in support. The Waitangi Tribunal just last week found the Crown had breached its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and called for a halt to further work on the controversial bill until it consults with Māori.

“It’s deeply ironic that a Bill David Seymour claims is about ‘good’ and ‘transparent’ lawmaking is being introduced to Parliament under urgency,” says Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop.

“Seymour’s bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of ACT Party principles – prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti.”

One of the principles in the Regulatory Standards Bill would create a new and unprecedented expectation that the Crown compensate corporations if environmental or public interest laws affect their property.

“If Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill goes ahead, the likes of Exxon Mobil, Monsanto and Fonterra will expect that public money will be used to compensate them whenever the Government tries to introduce basic environmental or public health protections.”

“These extreme neoliberal ideas have no place in our legal system here in Aotearoa, where we have long valued fairness and collective responsibility rather than individual entitlements to harm nature or others under the guise of freedom.”

“And I’m pretty sure most people in Aotearoa reckon polluters should pay – not the other way around,” says Toop.

The bill has already been rejected through proper parliamentary processes three times. Greenpeace argues there is no public mandate for the Bill, which is now being advanced through the Act-National coalition agreement, not by popular demand or broad consensus.

“Less than a decade ago, NZ First was pushing a member’s bill titled: Fighting Foreign Corporate Control, but now Winston Peters looks poised to let his coalition partner ram through legislation that hands that corporate control over on a plate,” says Toop.

Four of the country’s leading environmental organisations issued an open letterto the Prime Minister on Monday calling on him to reject the Regulatory Standards Bill, warning that it is an “unprecedented threat” to environmental protection, climate action, and the country’s democratic and constitutional foundations.

“This bill tries to redefine our constitutional and legal foundations in Aotearoa in favour of corporate interests. It’s an attack on our values as a nation, and using urgency for it during budget week is a cynical move by a Government clearly trying to dodge public scrutiny.”