Summary Offences (Demonstrations Near Residential Premises) Amendment Bill passes first reading
The Summary Offences (Demonstrations Near Residential Premises) Amendment Bill, which creates a new offence for targeted and disruptive demonstrations outside private residential premises, has undergone its first reading on 21 August 2025.
Paul Goldsmith, justice minister, said the proposed legislation carries a maximum penalty of three months’ imprisonment or a fine of $2,000 at most.
In a news release, Goldsmith said the government has tightly targeted the new law to apply only to protests directed at a person in their home.
The bill’s general policy statement explained that it will require:
In the government’s news release, Goldsmith lamented the rise in recent reports of protests targeting private homes, especially of public persons and officials, such as members of Parliament and judges.
Goldsmith said the legislation, introduced on 17 August 2025, seeks to prevent intrusive behaviour and impose a reasonable limitation on citizens’ rights to demonstrate reasonably.
The general policy statement added that the new law aims to strike a proper balance between individual privacy rights, including the use and enjoyment of their own home, and the rights and freedoms under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
“Just as we value the right to protest, privacy is also a key value of our society,” Goldsmith said in the government’s news release. “Unreasonable intrusions into people’s privacy are simply unacceptable.”
In the news release, Goldsmith emphasised that citizens’ ability to protest is a cornerstone of the country’s free and democratic society, a way to express themselves and participate in political activity, and one of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights Act.
The general policy statement noted that article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights upholds the right to freedom from arbitrary or unlawful interference with an individual’s privacy, family, and home.
“Everyone in New Zealand, and their families, should be able to expect peace and privacy in their own home, no matter what their daytime job is,” Goldsmith said.
