The Government is facing backlash over David Seymour's controversial Regulatory Standards Bill which passed its first reading today, under the shadow of the Budget.

"After the uproar over the Treaty Principles Bill, the Luxon Government looks to be trying to keep Seymour’s latest unpopular Bill quiet. They’ve clearly chosen to introduce it in Budget week to minimise scrutiny," said Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop.

"The Regulatory Standards Bill tries to make all future lawmakers in government follow a rigid set of the ACT Party’s far-right principles - prioritising corporate interests over people, nature, and Te Tiriti," says Toop.

This is the fourth time ACT has tried to pass the bill. It’s failed not once, not twice, but three times already. This time, more than 20,000 people submitted on the Bill during its first consultation, with only 0.33% of submitters in support, while 88% opposed it outright.

The Bill was also the subject of a Waitangi Tribunal inquiry, brought by over 13,000 claimants. The Tribunal found the Crown had breached its Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and called on the Crown to halt further work on the controversial bill until it consults with Māori.

One of the principles in the Regulatory Standards Bill would create a new and unprecedented expectation that the Crown compensate corporations if environmental or public interest laws affect their property.

"It’s a simple principle: polluters should pay - not be paid by the public. But Seymour’s bill turns that on its head," says Toop.

"If this bill becomes law, corporations like ExxonMobil, Fonterra and Monsanto would expect taxpayer handouts when the government introduces basic environmental or public protections."

"These extreme neoliberal ideas have no place in our legal system here in Aotearoa, where we have long valued fairness and collective responsibility rather than individual entitlements to harm nature or others under the guise of freedom," says Toop.

Greenpeace, along with Forest & Bird, WWF-New Zealand and the Environmental Defence Society, issued an open letter to the Prime Minister on Monday calling on him to reject the Regulatory Standards Bill, warning that it is an "unprecedented threat" to environmental protection, climate action, and the country’s democratic and constitutional foundations.

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