New Regulatory Standards Bill to Lift Productivity and Transparency in NZ Lawmaking

Regulation Minister David Seymour has unveiled a bold and comprehensive step forward in New Zealand’s regulatory reform agenda, as the proposed Regulatory Standards Bill makes its way through Cabinet with an expected presentation date of May 19. Designed to overhaul how government rules are created and implemented, the Bill promises to tackle one of the core barriers to national productivity: poor regulation.

Seymour, a long-time advocate of smarter law-making and leader of the ACT Party, directly connects low productivity—and, by extension, low wages—in New Zealand to a flawed regulatory culture. “To raise productivity, we must allow people to spend more time on productive activities and less time on compliance,” Seymour stated. In his view, the proposed legislation will realign incentives for politicians and bureaucrats, making it harder to enact bad laws while holding decision-makers publicly accountable.

Codifying Principles of Good Regulation

At the heart of the Regulatory Standards Bill is a clear aim: to enshrine principles of sound regulation in legislation, ensuring all future and existing laws are measured against them. These principles include:

• Justification of regulatory necessity

• Full cost-benefit analysis

• Clear identification of affected parties

• Transparency around property rights restrictions

• Public disclosure of inconsistencies with best practices

These principles mirror the fiscal discipline introduced by the Public Finance Act, which has been instrumental in improving accountability in government spending. Seymour emphasized that this new law would bring a similar discipline to the regulatory environment, with the Ministry for Regulation acting as a counterpart to the Treasury.

A New Role for the Regulatory Standards Board

One of the standout features of the Bill is the creation of a Regulatory Standards Board, composed of individuals with deep expertise in regulatory economics. While the board's recommendations will be non-binding, they are designed to shine a light on substandard lawmaking, creating public pressure on lawmakers to do better.

Citizens and businesses impacted by questionable regulations will have recourse to appeal to this board. The board will issue reports detailing whether the law in question adheres to the principles of sound regulation. Importantly, all findings and relevant documents will be made public, ensuring a high degree of transparency.

Shifting the Political Incentive Structure

Seymour’s goal isn’t just to make government regulation more accountable, but to reshape the very incentives that drive political behavior. “If red tape is holding us back because politicians find regulating politically rewarding, then we need to make regulating less rewarding for politicians,” he said.

The proposed law mandates that Ministers must publicly justify any deviation from the accepted regulatory principles. In doing so, it increases the political cost of poor lawmaking, making it harder for officials to pass legislation based on populism or short-term political gain.

Institutional Duties and Systematic Review

Beyond new legislation, the Bill places a proactive obligation on government agencies to periodically review their existing regulatory systems. This introduces a cycle of continuous improvement and systemic checks to ensure regulations remain fit-for-purpose, adaptive, and cost-effective over time.

Seymour stressed that the law will not prohibit bad lawmaking outright, but will highlight it, giving voters a clearer picture of where and how the regulatory environment may be failing.

Intellectual and Historical Foundations

The Regulatory Standards Bill is not emerging in a vacuum. It draws heavily from the intellectual work of Dr Bryce Wilkinson, particularly his book Constraining Government Regulation, which laid the philosophical and analytical groundwork for this legislative move. The Bill also revisits the work of the Regulatory Responsibility Taskforce, formed in 2009, whose members—such as Dr Graham Scott and Jack Hodder KC—played a pivotal role in refining early versions of the reform proposal.

Seymour acknowledged the long gestation of these ideas, remarking, “This Bill has been a long time coming. We now have the opportunity to bring decades of expert thinking to life.”

A Roadmap for Higher Productivity

Ultimately, the Regulatory Standards Bill aims to be more than a legislative tool—it seeks to be a cornerstone of New Zealand’s economic transformation. By dismantling bureaucratic obstacles and lifting the standard of lawmaking, the government aims to unlock higher productivity, foster economic innovation, and deliver better outcomes for all New Zealanders.

“In a high-cost economy, regulation isn’t neutral—it’s a tax on growth,” Seymour concluded. “This Government is committed to clearing the path of needless regulations by improving how laws are made.”

If passed, this legislation could mark a defining moment in New Zealand’s legislative history, setting a global example for evidence-based, transparent, and accountable governance.