Oral submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill
On Wednesday 9 July, InternetNZ appeared before the Finance and Expenditure Committee to present our oral submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill.
The Bill proposes the establishment of a Regulatory Standards Board to assess whether legislation aligns with a set of regulatory principles. In our submission, we raised serious concerns that the Bill would undermine an open, secure and free Internet for Aotearoa New Zealand.
We highlighted that the proposed principles conflict with best legal and policy practice and run counter to global regulatory trends in the digital and technology sectors. Importantly, we also emphasised that the Bill is fundamentally inconsistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi and would weaken effective multistakeholder governance.
We urged the Committee to recommend that the Bill not proceed and instead explore alternative, evidence-based approaches to improving regulatory quality through inclusive and collaborative engagement.