Formal Opposition to
Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill
(Government Bill 188–1, Brooke van Velden)
From: Ukes Baha | 24 September 2025
Submitted in response to the call for Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill
Summary of Position
I oppose the Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill in its current form.
Presented as a “regulatory tidy-up,” this Bill is in fact an omnibus measure containing significant policy shifts across multiple portfolios: births, deaths, marriages, charities, gambling, censorship, electronic identity, fire levies, inquiries, archives, and more. Framed as efficiency, it conceals provisions that erode privacy, weaken transparency, expand executive discretion, and risk the permanent loss of public records and taonga.
Core stance: This Bill is not minor housekeeping. It extends bureaucratic and ministerial powers without adequate safeguards, undermines Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations, and diminishes accountability in areas that directly affect citizens’ rights and communities.
Recommendation: Withdraw the Bill in full. If Parliament insists on proceeding, it must be divided into separate pieces of legislation, each subject to full consultation, Treaty analysis, and parliamentary scrutiny.
Constitutional & Human Rights Framework
- Democratic accountability: Omnibus packaging prevents proper parliamentary scrutiny.
- Privacy rights: Bulk data release and new identity-sharing powers threaten privacy and data sovereignty.
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Article 2 guarantees protection of taonga tuku iho, including whakapapa, archives, and mātauranga Māori; Article 3 guarantees equal citizenship. Weakening archival integrity undermines both. The Waitangi Tribunal’s WAI 262 Report affirmed that taonga and data sovereignty are Treaty-protected.
- Oversight and independence: Delegating censorship powers and allowing ministerial suppression of inquiries erodes checks on executive power.
1. Registrar-General’s Expanded Powers (Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act)
Bill text:
- Bulk disclosure (s 90A): “The Registrar-General may enter into an agreement with an organisation to supply any of the historical information… in bulk to that organisation.”
- Omission of information (s 92A): “The Registrar-General may omit registered information from a certificate if… satisfied there is a good reason.”
Current law:
Certificates must be full and accurate reflections of the register. The Registrar-General currently has no general power to omit information.
Risks:
- “Good reason” is undefined — discretion with no statutory criteria.
- Enables effective rewriting of legal identity documents.
- Bulk data release risks privacy breaches and commercial exploitation of whakapapa.
Position: Public records must remain complete, accurate, and safeguarded by law, not altered or withheld at discretion.
2. Charities Act Amendments
Bill text:
- s 58VA: “The following information must be published on an Internet site… including procedures, requirements, and the progress of decisions.”
Risks:
- Small, kaupapa-based, or Māori charities risk reputational harm from partial publication of disputes.
- Transparency without fairness may chill advocacy or discourage compliance.
Position: Transparency is important, but must be balanced with privacy and equity. Stronger safeguards are needed for vulnerable organisations.
3. Electronic Identity Verification (RealMe)
Bill text:
- s 52A: “The chief executive may… declare any… organisation, whether part of the State services or not, a participating agency.”
- s 34(1)(c)–(d): Suspension powers now extend to “department error” or where “more information” is required.
Current law:
Participation is currently limited to government agencies.
Risks:
- Opens RealMe to private entities, radically expanding access to identity data.
- Vague suspension grounds enable arbitrary denial of services.
- Data sovereignty risks if private or offshore partners are approved.
Position: Limit to public agencies, with strict statutory safeguards and appeal rights.
4. Films, Videos & Publications (Censorship Law)
Bill text:
- Delegation (s 87): “The Chief Censor may delegate any of their powers… to a classification officer.”
- Disclosure overseas (s 145D): “The Secretary may… disclose any information to an overseas authority.”
Current law:
Core censorship powers rest only with the Chief Censor and Deputy.
Risks:
- Dilutes accountability by passing sensitive powers to junior officers.
- Allows foreign governments access to NZ citizens’ information, with only weak safeguards.
- Agreements can be withheld from publication under OIA.
Position: Keep censorship powers centralised at the Chief Censor. Overseas disclosures must require explicit parliamentary authorisation.
5. Fire & Emergency NZ (Levy and Dwelling Definition)
Bill text:
- s 81A: Redefines “dwelling” to include caravans, boats, or immovable structures if used as homes.
Risks:
- Higher levies for low-income households, alternative housing, and rural communities.
- Levy complexity benefits insurers, not households.
Position: Levy design should be equitable and simple, not regressive.
6. Marriage Act (Celebrants)
Bill text:
- s 13A: “The Registrar-General may cancel a person’s entitlement… if not satisfied the person is of good character… or if it is in the interests of the public generally.”
Risks:
- Undefined terms (“good character,” “public interest”) open to arbitrary or discriminatory application.
- Community and minority faith celebrants at risk of exclusion.
- No robust appeal rights.
Position: Cancellation must be limited to objective, evidence-based grounds with an independent appeals process.
7. Public Records Act
Bill text:
- Sale (s 20B): “A public record that is sold… becomes the property of the person… and ceases to have status as a public record.”
- Amendment (s 26A): “The Chief Archivist may authorise the amendment of a public archive.”
- Exemptions (s 60A): Overseas public offices may be exempted from obligations.
Current law:
- Records cannot be sold or privatised.
- Amendments are tightly controlled.
- No broad exemption for overseas offices.
Risks:
- Privatisation of archives, stripping them from collective heritage.
- Risk of rewriting or falsifying history.
- Treaty breach: whakapapa and Māori taonga may be lost, destroyed, or exported.
Position: Archives must remain preserved, public, and beyond the reach of commercial sale or alteration.
8. Gambling Act
Bill text:
- s 95: Merged clubs can retain gaming machines.
- s 313(1)(ia): Allows mandatory “player tracking or other harm-minimisation systems.”
Risks:
- Expanded machine access, increasing gambling harm.
- Tracking technology could become surveillance, with data exploited commercially.
Position: Genuine harm minimisation should reduce, not expand, machine availability.
9. Inquiries Act
Bill text:
- s 12(4): “The Minister may… present a report that excludes information… or delay presentation of the report.”
Current law:
Reports are tabled in full, without executive suppression.
Risks:
- Ministers may censor politically inconvenient findings.
- Undermines inquiry independence and public trust.
Position: Inquiries must remain independent. Any suppression undermines legitimacy.
10. Cross-Cutting Concerns
- Omnibus design: Bundling major reforms under “regulatory tidy-up” obscures scope.
- Unchecked discretion: Registrars, Chief Executives, and Ministers gain sweeping unilateral powers.
- Treaty protections: Weakening archives and records breaches Article 2 (taonga) and Article 3 (equal rights).
- Privacy and sovereignty: Bulk record release, RealMe expansion, and overseas disclosures erode trust.
Anticipated Counterarguments
- Efficiency: True efficiency requires transparency and trust, not shortcuts that endanger rights.
- Modernisation: Modernisation should update systems while preserving safeguards. This Bill strips safeguards away.
- Cost savings: Any financial savings are trivial compared with the social and constitutional costs of weakened trust, lost archives, and Treaty breaches.
Conclusion & Recommendations
The Regulatory Systems (Internal Affairs) Amendment Bill is not a neutral adjustment. It expands executive discretion, enables the destruction, sale, or amendment of archives, widens RealMe access to private entities, and permits ministerial suppression of inquiries.
By failing to properly engage with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Bill undermines Māori rights and weakens the broader democratic safeguards protecting all New Zealanders.
Recommendations:
- Withdraw the Bill in full.
- If Parliament proceeds:
- Divide into stand-alone Bills for proper scrutiny.
- Require full public submissions and Treaty analysis for each.
- Remove clauses enabling bulk data release, record omissions, archive sale/amendment, overseas disclosures, and discretionary cancellation of celebrants.
- Ensure inquiry independence and strong privacy safeguards.
- At minimum, split out and withdraw the most constitutionally significant parts (Public Records Act, RealMe, Inquiries).
Respectfully submitted,
Ukes Baha
Public Health Advocate | Counsellor | Policy Analyst
ukesbaha.com