30 hours? is it long enough? the Regulatory Standards Bill

The Finance and Expenditure Committee has controversially limited public input on the Regulatory Standards Bill to just 30 hours of oral submissions-a fraction of the time other major legislation received, igniting accusations of democracy being side-lined. MPs and interested parties will have a total of 30 hours across two sub-committees to publicly speak on the Bill, which has already drawn nearly 23,000 written submissions. Labour’s Duncan Webb criticised the truncated format, calling it “ridiculously short and completely unfair,” and contrasted it with the longer submission windows allowed for the Fast Track and Treaty Principles bills.

David Seymour, ACT Party leader and Minister for Regulation, defended the limitation, asserting the Bill has been “probably the most consulted-on bill this century” due to its multiple iterations in 2006, 2011, 2021, and now 2025. Seymour argued that the role of the select committee is to inform lawmakers; not serve as a referendum and dismissed criticism as driven by “bots” and “false statements,” particularly from organisations like Greenpeace. Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop described the decision as a “travesty” and accused Seymour of attempting to “delegitimise opposition” from civil society and iwi. Critics from academia, Treaty advocates, Māori organisations, and environmental groups warned the time constraint may dilute meaningful scrutiny, particularly given the Bill’s potential to reshape regulation, environmental or Treaty protections.

The Regulatory Standards Bill sets out principles guiding future legislation and establishes a Regulatory Standards Board-but only allows a cursory 30 hours of public input, compared with over 80 hours for similar landmark laws. Opponents argue such a short timeframe is inadequate for thorough debate. With 23,000 submissions to review, just 30 hours risks side-lining community voices in favour of corporate or ideological interests. 

🔜 What Comes Next

• The Committee must process all submissions and prepare a report—due 22 November 2025—despite the limited oral hearing time en.wikipedia.org.

• Political pressure is mounting: opposition parties are calling for the submission window to be extended, citing democratic fairness.

• Seymour maintains the process is reasonable, stating: “If people believe 30 hours is not enough… then I don’t think they’re taking it seriously”

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