The Taskforce has produced a report and draft Bill of exceptional quality. The Bill provides the best current option for improving regulatory quality, even though on its own it is no panacea. Read more
The affordability of housing is an important issue. The quantity, quality and price of housing services obtained through owner-occupation, renting and other arrangements are vital for the overall welfare of all New Zealanders. Read more
The Business Roundtable supports well-conceived law regulating cartel conduct. However, for the reasons explained in our March 2010 submission on the earlier Ministry of Economic Development discussion document, we are opposed to criminalisation. Read more
A submission by the New Zealand Business Roundtable to members of the 2011 Emissions Trading Scheme Review Panel. Read more
This is a submission by the Major Electricity Users’ Group and the New Zealand Business Roundtable on the paper “Gazetting New Zealand’s 2050 Emissions Target - Minister’s Position Paper” released 29th January 2011 by the Minister for Climate Change Issues along with a media release “50 by 50 emissions reduction target proposed”. Read more
We see the issue of welfare dependency and welfare costs as hugely important – economically, fiscally and socially. The WWG’s work should be seen in the context of the precarious current economic situation, with an anaemic GDP growth outlook and dangerous external vulnerabilities due to very high foreign indebtedness. Read more
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has the potential to play a positive role in relation to New Zealand’s financial markets provided that its approach to the exercise of its significant regulatory powers is measured and responsible. Read more
The Business Roundtable welcomes the establishment of the Savings Working Group. We think there has been much mistaken analysis around savings over the past decade, especially by the Treasury, and that as a result, costly policies have been based on false premises. Read more
Holidays legislation remains complex and difficult to administer. It is far less problematical in many countries, including Australia. Read more
The Business Roundtable believes that New Zealand employment law has become unnecessarily complex and costly for both employers and employees. Contrary to common misconceptions, there is no inherent and systematic imbalance in bargaining power in the labour market. Read more
The Business Roundtable welcomes the establishment of the Welfare Working Group (WWG). Welfare dependency is an enormous problem that blights the lives of many people and has wider deleterious social and economic effects. Read more
The Business Roundtable has supported proposals for a Regulatory Responsibility Act from the time of its 2001 report Constraining Government Regulation. We made submissions to the select committee that considered the earlier Members Bill. Read more
The Business Roundtable does not propose to individually address each of the 204 questions presented in the Discussion Paper but instead address five key issues arising from it. These include: The public policy framework for evaluating New Zealand's securities laws; the scope of the securities laws; the substantive duties of disclosure; the standards of liability under the securities laws; and the securities law reform process. Read more
This submission focuses on making three high-level comments on the discussion paper: problem definition, the need for the law to protect reputable suppliers and customers alike, and the case for general and enduring statute law rather than for detailed law that can quickly become obsolescent. Read more
The Business Roundtable is pleased that the government is giving effect to its manifesto commitment to hold another referendum on the voting system. This was expected by many voters when the mixed-member proportional (MMP) system was introduced. Read more