Five Million Voices

Should the New Zealand Productivity Commission be disestablished and its founding Act repealed?

The bill repeals the New Zealand Productivity Commission Act 2010 and disestablishes the Productivity Commission, a Crown entity that produced independent public policy and economic research. Its existing reports remain publicly available and certain contracts transfer to the Treasury.

⚡ Taken under urgency

Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, first reading, second reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.

MPs’ arguments for and against the bill

Why support it
  • Supporters argued that the Commission's existing reports remain publicly available and the focus should shift from commissioning more advice to implementing the advice already produced.
  • Supporters said the roughly $6 million annual cost would be redirected to establish a ministry of regulation tasked with reviewing and improving the quality of lawmaking and reducing regulatory burdens.
  • Supporters contended that disestablishment is a legitimate budgetary choice to stop one activity and use the funds for a different priority.
Why oppose it
  • Opponents argued the Commission produced high-quality, independent economic analysis that Governments have at times adopted, and that this kind of arm's-length capacity is rare elsewhere in government.
  • Opponents said the bill passed under urgency with no submissions, no select committee hearing, and no regulatory impact statement, which they characterised as poor process for a regulation-focused Government.
  • Opponents criticised the bill for terminating staff employment contracts outright while transferring leases and other contracts, saying it showed inadequate regard for affected employees.

These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

This bill repeals the New Zealand Productivity Commission Act 2010, which established the New Zealand Productivity Commission. That Commission was an independent Crown entity that carried out research and public inquiries into how the country could lift its productivity and wellbeing, providing advice to the government. Repealing the Act disestablishes (closes down) the Commission, and affects its staff and the independent inquiry function it performed.

It is a government bill, part of the coalition's spending-reduction agenda, with the government indicating relevant economic analysis would be picked up by other parts of government. The argument in favour is that closing the Commission saves money and reduces duplication, freeing resources for other priorities. The argument against is that an arm's-length, non-partisan body offered independent, long-term analysis of productivity — one of New Zealand's persistent economic weaknesses — and that losing it reduces expert scrutiny, institutional knowledge and a source of advice free from political pressure.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.

Oppose (No) Support (Yes)

New Zealand Productivity Commission Act Repeal Bill · Third Reading, 1 Feb 2024
Parliament voted 68–55 — it passed.