Macindoe Tim: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Macindoe Tim: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:656;Page:5596] 
12.  
TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) 
 to the  
Minister for Regulatory Reform 
: What recent initiatives has the Government announced to cut red tape and lift the quality of regulation in New Zealand? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE (Minister for Regulatory Reform) 
: 
 The Minister of Finance and I yesterday released the  
Government Statement on Regulation 
 which guarantees better regulations and fewer of them. Specifically this Government will firstly introduce new regulation only when we are satisfied that it is required reasonable and robust and secondly review existing regulation in order to identify and remove requirements that are unnecessary ineffective or excessively costly. That is a big step up from the nanny State of the previous Government. 
Tim Macindoe 
: What steps is the Government taking to support the  
Government Statement on Regulation 
? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: The statement will be backed up by the following four measures: firstly regulatory scans will be undertaken by agencies responsible for regulation on a systematic basis to identify regulation that is unnecessary ineffective or excessively costly; secondly there will be annual regulatory plans of all known and anticipated proposals to introduce amend repeal or review legislation; thirdly there will be enhanced certification requirements for departments and Ministers to strengthen accountability for meeting the Government’s regulatory commitments; and fourthly there will be post-implementation reviews for proposals that are formally assessed by Treasury’s regulatory impact analysis team as being inadequate. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Why has the Minister simply restated the previous Government’s policy implemented after the Quality Regulation Review? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: I do not begin to understand why that former Minister would think these measures are anything like what the previous Government actually undertook. I suggest that the former Minister actually reads the statement. 
Tim Macindoe 
: What other steps is the Government taking to cut red tape and lift the quality of regulation in New Zealand? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: The Government has also established a Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce to recommend changes to the Regulatory Responsibility Bill aimed at increasing accountability and transparency around lawmaking. The task force is due to report in September 2009 and once again I look forward to receiving the support of Lianne Dalziel and of the Labour Party for this measure. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Does reasserting Kiwi values like individual autonomy and responsibility mean that the Minister thinks the owners of leaky buildings and investors in failed finance companies should take personal responsibility for the consequences of their investments; if so what protection does he think it is appropriate for the Government to offer through regulation? 
Hon RODNEY HIDE 
: No I do not. What I know is that New Zealanders made a very very clear statement at the last election which was that they were sick of a nanny State Government that always thought it knew best and wanted to tell New Zealanders what to do. I have to say that people are very pleased that we actually have a Government that stands up for Kiwis and the Kiwi values of individual freedom and responsibility. I point out that the previous Government talked long and hard— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. In respect of that answer was it acceptable to answer no to a question and then continue by providing an abusive set of responses that had nothing to do with the question I put to the Minister? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I hear the point of order the member has made; she makes a good point of order. Where the answer to a question is no it should not be followed up with a further response that attacks the Opposition unless of course the question that was asked was politically loaded. On this occasion it was not very politically loaded—I accept that. That is why I stood to stop the Minister continuing.