Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Regulatory Standards Bill — First Reading 
Lotu-Iiga Peseta Sam: Regulatory Standards Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:673;Page:19755] 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA (National—Maungakiekie) 
: 
 It is my privilege to speak to the Regulatory Standards Bill. May I acknowledge the Minister for Regulatory Reform for bringing this bill to Parliament and for the work he has done on the principles around regulations and in terms of improving the way that Parliament works. The previous speaker Lianne Dalziel will rail against this bill proceeding to the select committee. I was not in the last Parliament and I did not get an opportunity to listen to the submissions on the Regulatory Responsibility Bill but I certainly welcome the new bill. I look forward to hearing the submissions to the select committee with an open mind in terms of proceeding with the bill through its process. 
What does this bill do? If we go back to first principles we see that it is about breaking regulations and making more effective laws and regulations as part of this Government’s brief. It is part of the plan that the Labour Party does not have. That plan is to increase our exports. It is a plan about innovation and trade. We have just heard in the last week that the Prime Minister has been to India to negotiate the type of trade agreement that will bring about prosperity for this country. The plan is also about making Government services more effective. That is part of our plan. It is also about effective taxation. Last year’s tax switch was another building block in this Government’s regime to bring about prosperity. The Government’s plan is also about infrastructure spending. So breaking regulations and certainly making more effective lawmaking processes are part of our plan. 
What does the bill do? Cutting red tape and regulations certainly is about driving economic growth. It makes it easier for businesses and New Zealand companies to do better. By doing better they provide better and more opportunities for those who are after jobs. The bill is also about as the Minister pointed out in his speech putting in place an annual programme to clean up regulations. Before the Commerce Committee right now we have a regulatory reform bill whereby we are cleaning up a number of statutes across the legislative menu. It will simplify a number of laws and establish productivity-raising regulations. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: My idea. 
PESETA SAM LOTU-IIGA 
: Ms Dalziel says it is her idea—but we are implementing it. She might have thought about it but we are carrying out and doing the things that will bring about change in this country. 
This bill is about providing better regulation and less regulation. When we think about the competing interests in terms of regulations we know that New Zealanders are affected by regulation every day whether it be the speed limit on our roads or the fact that we drive on the left-hand side of the road. Regulations help to ensure that we live safer lives that we are treated fairly that we protect and manage our environment and that we have a competitive and efficient economy. Those are the things that this Government stands for. But regulation is much much more than that and we know that. As lawmakers we have to be careful because regulations also have costs. They have unintended impacts and consequences and if regulations are poorly conceived and poorly implemented they can lead to significantly higher costs which can hinder our freedoms as individuals and stifle innovation and productivity. 
National will introduce new regulation only when we are satisfied that it is required that it is reasonable and that it is robust. We have gone about our legislative programme whether it is simplifying employment law to encourage employers to hire new staff reduce compliance costs and give choice in terms of holidays and whether it is introducing changes in the Resource Management Act which had become so stifling of creativity and business development that we have had to streamline some of the provisions of that Act. We have allowed for example simplified consents for major projects including—and the member of Parliament for Taupo was here—a $1 billion private geothermal power station in Taupo which was approved within a record 8 months. We have put in place that sort of regulation-busting legislative agenda. 
If we talk about this bill—and I know that the honourable member for Christchurch East did not even refer to the bill once—and look at the principles behind it we see that they are principles that we take for granted but that are not sometimes followed. They are principles of the rule of law. They are principles around our individual freedoms and liberties. They are about protecting private property rights which the Hon Rodney Hide has championed during his career as a politician. They are about the role that the courts play within the democratic process and about what good lawmaking process is. I certainly commend the referral of this bill to the select committee. I look forward to the submissions both for and against the bill. I certainly will treat this bill with the respect that it deserves.