Responding to today’s announcement that the Government is consulting on reforming heath and safety laws, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“Overzealous health and safety regulations are one of the biggest handbrakes on productivity, driving up the cost of everything from doing business to building core infrastructure necessary for this country to function.

“Often these regulations do very little to actually improve people’s safety but add enormous cost and time to doing almost anything. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that placing hundreds of road cones along a small stretch of road and slashing speed limits isn’t necessary for minor roadside repairs, yet the ambiguous and nonsensical health and safety rules currently in place have done exactly that.

“There was a time when the health and safety rules could be summed up by the phrase ‘don’t be a dick’, now you need lawyers and compliance officers just to do even the most simple of tasks. We look forward to the Government bringing back commonsense and letting people get on with their lives.”

NOTES:

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is an independent and membership-driven activist group, dedicated to being the voice for Kiwi taxpayers in the corridors of power. Its mission, lower taxes, less waste, more accountability, is supported by 200,000 subscribed members and supporters.

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