Katherine Rich MP
National Party Economic Development Spokeswoman
2 November 2006
Regulation report shown to be impotent
The first milestone report of the Government’s much-trumpeted look at regulations affecting business shows just how
impotent the review is, says National Party Economic Development spokeswoman Katherine Rich.
“Most damning of all, the report says businesses have identified real concerns with areas like labour laws, the RMA and
ACC - areas Labour has declared off-limits.
“National has always questioned the review’s value, given that Lianne Dalziel has declared so many vital areas of
regulation to be no-go zones.”
The report says ‘Many businesses have expressed concern that the Employment Relations Act is “stacked against the
employer” particularly in relation to the process for dismissing staff’’ and ‘The RMA has been cited as a potential
barrier whereby a single objector, who can be a direct business competitor, can block a development.’
“None of these unsurprising concerns can be addressed because the review was neutered from the start thanks to the
ruling out of any look at the big issues – like tax, ACC, the RMA and labour laws,” says Mrs Rich.
“The report also contains the statement ‘Feedback suggests that on the whole businesses are comfortable with the
regulatory environment…’
“That will be news to the business community.
“The credibility of Lianne Dalziel’s ‘fast-track mechanism’ for dealing with regulatory concerns is also dealt a fatal
blow in the report – because the mechanism turns out to simply be legislation. Passing legislation is a process open to
any government at any time.
“This shows that the entire review is simply spin, and that little of value to businesses will come out of it.”
ENDS