Public consultation on these Acts will be open until 2 October
The Legislation Repeals Project has flagged another 50 laws for repeal, attorney-general Chris Bishop announced.
Among these laws are the Auckland City and Auckland Museum Empowering Act 1924, the Thorndon Reclamation Act 1882 and the Blueskin Market Reserve Ordinance 1871. The laws had once been useful, but now “sit as relics of New Zealand’s days gone past, providing a window into the times, quirks, and realities of yesteryear”, Bishop said.
“Keeping our statute book up to date avoids unnecessary costs and confusion for users, and round four now brings the total number of Acts identified for repeal to over 200”, the attorney-general explained.
He noted that this batch of legislation highlighted how New Zealand’s oldest schools and societies were governed by singular laws and not general legislation.
“Some agricultural and pastoral society-related Acts enabled activities still enjoyed by Kiwis today, like the Blueskin Market Reserve Ordinance 1871 which provided for a cattle market, exhibiting livestock and agricultural produce and providing prizes for winning exhibits at Blueskin. While A&P shows continue to be a feature of New Zealand rural life, in many cases there is no longer a need for these Acts”, Bishop said.
Laws with general application, like the Resource Management Act and Local Government Act, have eliminated the need for parliament to greenlight matters on a case-by-case basis, the attorney-general pointed out.
The new batch of laws for repeal is currently open for public consultation, with the feedback window closing on 2 October. The Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) and the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport in relation to local Acts will be in charge of the consultation.
Currently, the number of laws up for repeal comes to 202. In June, the government had invited feedback on 152 Acts flagged for repeal.
“We’ll be consulting on a fifth round of Acts proposed for repeal later this year. That’ll bring the total to around 250 Acts. We’ll then have a bill to repeal the Acts ready to go for next year”, Bishop said. “The bill will go through the normal legislative process, so the public will have a chance to make further submissions on the Acts proposed for repeal at select committee”.
The Legislation Repeals Project was launched to evaluate 900 of New Zealand’s oldest laws. The PCO is still receiving submissions regarding the first three batches of laws set for repeal.
