Te Pāti Māori condemns the Government’s decision to restrict oral submissions on the Regulatory Standards Bill to just 30 hours, calling it a deliberate move to shut down dissent.

“This is not a process. It’s a purge. The Government is pushing a dangerous law and silencing those who would challenge it” said Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

Despite repeated system failures and hundreds still waiting to be heard, Ministers have refused to extend the deadline. Māori voices, tangata tiriti, constitutional experts, legal academics, unions, and community advocates are being locked out.

“The Crown never intended to listen. They’ve built a submission process designed to collapse under pressure and it did. Now they’re cutting the cord” said Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.

“The Regulatory Standards Bill hands sweeping power to unelected officials and opens the door for corporate veto over worker protections, environmental safeguards, and Te Tiriti rights.”

“This is the machinery of suppression dressed as reform. Thirty hours isn’t public consultation it’s an alibi” said Waititi.

Te Pāti Māori is demanding an immediate extension to the submission timeframe and guarantees that every voice has the right to be heard.

“We will fight this Bill in Parliament, in the courts, and in our communities” said Waititi. “A government that shuts its ears is not fit to govern.”

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