Young Jonathan: Regulatory Standards Bill — First Reading 
Young Jonathan: Regulatory Standards Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:673;Page:19768] 
JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) 
: 
 I am very pleased to stand and speak to the Regulatory Standards Bill. Regulations are important. They balance private interests with public interests. Regulations are important to establish how our society interacts how it coexists and how it shares its resources in a fair way which as I said enhances personal rights and opportunities without infringing on the personal rights and opportunities of others. Finding that balance is what legislative work such as this bill is about. But regulations can become outdated and become unnecessarily onerous. There are times when the construction of our legislation needs to be reviewed and there are times when we need to be looking at those regulations as well and bringing some changes to them. The Hon Rodney Hide and the Hon Phil Heatley in April this year looked at some areas of fisheries and aquaculture legislation and regulation and announced the removal of 176 unnecessary regulations from the law books. The Hon Mr Hide said that many unnecessary regulations were allowed to remain on the law books and legislation has not been updated to keep up with the times. It is important that we have these review processes. 
I particularly like the principles of responsible regulation set out in this bill and we have heard other speakers talk about these. Clause 7(1) states: “The principles of responsible regulation are that except as provided in subsection (2) legislation should—(a) be consistent with the following aspects of the rule of law: (i) the law should be clear and accessible: (ii) the law should not adversely affect rights and liberties or impose obligations retrospectively: (iii) every person is equal before the law: (iv) issues of legal right and liability should be resolved by the application of law rather than the exercise of administrative discretion:”. These principles underpin the creation of our regulations and our legislative process. They are our baselines. They are the foundation that gives boundaries and context to the regulations we create to ensure they are fit for purpose. 
The National-led Government is firmly focused on lifting New Zealand’s economic performance. Only by lifting our economic performance can we create jobs boost incomes improve living standards and provide the world-class public services that Kiwi families need. National recognises that we need to address and remove where possible barriers to growth and things that will stop our businesses moving ahead and stop them continuing to grow and to develop. We believe that better regulation and less regulation is essential to help New Zealand become internationally competitive and a more attractive place to live and to do business. We live in a very competitive world and it is very important that we do not place upon ourselves undue encumbrances of outmoded outdated and onerous regulations. This bill is moving towards the end of those sorts of unnecessary weights that hold us back and hold us down. I am very pleased to stand in support of this bill.