Media Release: Rights Aotearoa calls for united Opposition commitment to repeal the Regulatory Standards Act in the first 30 days of any future left-wing coalition government, should the Bill become law.

Rights Aotearoa is calling on the leaders of Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori to issue a joint statement today committing to repeal the Regulatory Standards Act early on in the term of their next government should the Bill pass a third reading and become law.

The select committee's report, released yesterday, represents only cosmetic adjustments to legislation that remains fundamentally unconstitutional, anti-democratic, and catastrophically harmful to human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

"The committee's amendments are merely sticking plaster on a structural wound," says Paul Thistoll, CEO of Rights Aotearoa. "This bill is unfixable. There is no possible world in which it works. It is an attempted constitutional coup d'état by other means."

The amendments—clarifying the "severe impairment" threshold for property rights, adding a principle on implementation planning, and adjusting the Regulatory Standards Board's appointment process—fail to address the legislation's foundational ideological capture of New Zealand's law-making machinery. A Ministerial appointment process with a Governor-General veneer remains politically controlled. The core architecture enabling regulatory capture and corporate dominance remains intact.

98.7% of 166,300 public submissions opposed this bill. Not a niche constituency. Not a narrow political faction. A democratic repudiation by New Zealanders across every sector of society: Māori, environmental advocates, labour unions, health professionals, legal experts, businesses genuinely committed to the public good, and countless ordinary citizens who recognise that this legislation attacks fundamental democratic principles.

The Waitangi Tribunal has found the Crown in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi's partnership principles through the Bill's development. Despite unprecedented Māori opposition and warnings from the Tribunal itself, the government persists. This is not governance; this is constitutional vandalism.

This bill will:

• Strip parliamentary sovereignty by locking future governments into a narrow neoliberal ideology, no matter the public mandate
• Entrench a permanent architecture enabling regulatory capture and monopolistic behaviour, making butter, groceries, and essentials more expensive for ordinary New Zealanders
• Erase Te Tiriti o Waitangi from New Zealand's law-making, breaching our founding covenant and Crown obligations
• Create a hierarchy of rights that elevates property and corporate interests above human rights, environmental protection, health, and Māori collective rights
• Trigger inevitable legal challenges under the Bill of Rights Act 1990—Rights Aotearoa's CEO will consider filing for a declaration of inconsistency on day one if this Bill passes

Labour has already branded it "deeply flawed and ideologically driven" and declared the exclusion of Te Tiriti "an egregious failure." The Greens have unequivocally stated they will repeal it and abolish the Ministry for Regulation. Te Pāti Māori has grave concerns about its assault on mana Māori and Crown-Māori relations.

The Opposition parties are aligned. They must now make a binding, public commitment. A joint statement from Labour's leader, the Greens' co-leaders, and Te Pāti Māori's co-leaders committing to repeal this legislation on the first day of their next government would:

• Provide moral clarity that this bill does not represent New Zealand's values
• Signal to courts, the public, and international observers that Aotearoa's commitment to democracy and human rights is non-negotiable
• Create momentum for the legislation's defeat in the House or render it politically toxic
• Restore public confidence in Parliament as a protector of constitutional integrity
• Demonstrate that when special interest coups fail at the ballot box, they will be unmade

New Zealand can have everything: robust human rights, including indigenous rights; environmental protection; fair competition; a thriving economy; and a functioning democracy. They are not in tension. They never were. This lie—that rights and prosperity conflict—has been used to justify this bill. It must be rejected utterly.

We call on the Opposition leaders to speak today: commit to repeal, and reclaim our democracy.

For comment, contact: Paul Thistoll, CEO, Rights Aotearoa
paul@rightsaotearoa.nz

Rights Aotearoa is Aotearoa's leading non-governmental organisation devoted to promoting and defending universal human rights, with a particular focus on transgender, non-binary, and intersex rights.