This omnibus Government bill aims to improve regulatory systems so they are effective, efficient, and accord with best regulatory practice. It was enacted as the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Act 2025.
Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.
This is an omnibus Government bill — one bill bundling many small, mostly technical changes — to a range of economic-development laws administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. It makes minor fixes across statutes covering areas such as business, companies, consumer protection, intellectual property, standards, and weights and measures. The changes clarify wording, correct errors, close small gaps, remove outdated provisions, and update cross-references so the underlying regulatory systems keep working as intended. It mainly affects businesses, regulators, and, indirectly, consumers who rely on these systems.
It is part of a periodic programme of "regulatory systems amendment bills" that gather up housekeeping fixes rather than passing many separate small amendments. The main argument in favour is efficiency: it keeps the statute book current, reduces uncertainty and compliance cost, and frees Parliament from repeated minor amendments. The main argument against is that grouping unrelated changes into one omnibus bill can limit scrutiny, and critics worry some items labelled "technical" carry real policy substance that deserves standalone debate.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.