The PSA supports the Waitangi Tribunal’s call to stop progressing the Regulatory Standards Bill until there has been meaningful engagement with Māori.

The Public Service Association (PSA) Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is deeply opposed to the Bill which is being fast-tracked by the Government despite overwhelming Māori and Tangata Te Tiriti opposition, and serious constitutional concerns.

Driven by Minister for Regulation David Seymour, the Bill prioritises personal liberty and property rights while posing a direct threat to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the rights of Māori, PSA Te Kaihautū Māori Janice Panoho says.

In an Interim report the Tribunal found that the Bill would be of constitutional significance and relevance to Māori but that Māori were not consulted. The Tribunal therefore called for a halt to the Bill until there had been meaningful engagement with Māori.

On Monday (May 19) Cabinet approved sending the Bill for debate in Parliament, bypassing meaningful consultation and undermining the jurisdiction of the Waitangi Tribunal, which convened an urgent hearing last week in response to the bill, Panoho says.

More than 18,000 individuals supported a collective Waitangi Tribunal claim (Wai 3470) led by Toitū te Tiriti and other Māori groups, reflecting the widespread concern that the Bill is not only anti-Treaty but actively hostile to all New Zealanders.

"This legislation represents a serious constitutional overreach and an attack on the foundational principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi," Panoho says.

"It entrenches economic ideology at the expense of Māori rights and tino rangatiratanga. Rushing it through Cabinet without proper consultation dishonours Te Tiriti and shows a complete lack of good faith by the Crown. Māori must not be an afterthought in legislative processes that could redefine our rights in law," Panoho says.

"This is not neutral policy, it is a calculated shift toward deregulation and privatisation, one that threatens public accountability and undermines the government’s ability to protect collective wellbeing.

"By prioritising property rights over social justice, environmental sustainability, and Treaty obligations, the Bill fundamentally alters the role of government in a way that is unbalanced and deeply concerning.

"The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi urges all political parties and communities to reject the Bill. We must not allow our democratic processes to be hijacked by ideology that seeks to silence Te Tiriti, disempower communities, and privilege profit over people and planet," Panoho says.

Note:

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

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