Latest news with #MinistryForRegulation
RNZ News
2 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
ACT leader David Seymour suggested 'bots' drove 'fake submissions' against his Regulatory Standards Bill
ACT leader David Seymour has claimed 99.5 percent of the submissions received on the Regulatory Standards Bill were created using "bots". The Ministry for Regulation received approximately 23,000 submissions regarding a discussion document about the bill in January. In summarising the feedback, it found 88 percent of submitters opposed the proposed regulations, and 0.33 percent supported or partially supported them. But in an interview on this week's episode of 30 with Guyon Espiner , the newly-appointed deputy prime minister claimed most of the opposing submissions weren't valid. "You're smart enough to know that those 23,000 submissions, 99.5 percent of them, were because somebody figured out how to make a bot make fake submissions that inflated the numbers," Seymour said. The figures quoted were "meaningless" and represented nothing more than somebody "running a smart campaign with a bot". When asked what evidence Seymour had that the submissions were fake, he said it's because "we've looked at them. Because we know what the contents of them is". In a subsequent written statement to RNZ, Seymour said he was referring to "online campaigns" that generate "non-representative samples" that don't reflect public opinion. In a statement, Ministry for Regulation deputy chief executive policy Andrew Royle would not address Seymour's claims about bots directly. Royle said the ministry undertook a "robust process" to analyse all of the submissions received. "Our approach was carefully designed to reflect all submissions in the final analysis, noting there were many similar points made across most of the submissions," he said. The ministry's summary shows its process included a "qualitative" analysis of about 1000 individual submissions. Group submissions and submissions over 10,000 words were read separately. The rest were summarised using AI. There was nothing in the report about bots or other interference in the submissions process. Watch the full interview with David Seymour on 30 With Guyon Espiner . Subscribe to the podcast feed now to get every episode of 30 on your phone when it lands: Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago Andrew Geddis said the use of the word 'bots' was disparaging. "I think he's using bots in that kind of colloquial sense, which is an incredibly dismissive way to refer to individual New Zealanders taking the time to actually engage with his proposal. "If he means some sort of artificial intelligence, computer-generated filling out of the forms without any human intervention, that would have been reported to him by his officials. There was no such report." ActionStation director Kassie Hartendorp said Seymour was trying to discredit any opposition to his views. "If he presents some evidence that there were bots involved, and there's probably ways to be able to do that, if he presents evidence, then fine. But otherwise, it just seems like an outlandish claim that isn't matching up with reality." Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa) is the Director of ActionStation, a community campaigning platform. Photo: Supplied ActionStation and other campaigning organisations from across the political spectrum have previously created templates to help people write submissions. Hartendorp said those tools were not bots and meant make the submissions process more accessible. "The purpose of those submission tools is to be able to make it as clear and simple as possible, so that people, who might not ever have submitted before, or who don't have much time, can be involved with the democratic process." Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson said he wasn't able to respond to Seymour's claims as the consultation in January was run by the Ministry for Regulation, but said there are protections in place against 'bots' during a select committee process. Similar claims about the impact of automated software were made during the submissions process on the Treaty Principles Bill in January, which attracted more than 300,000 submissions, but no evidence was found to support any such interference. "Our cybersecurity people were not aware that any of the submissions were made that way, and they do have security in place to alert them to if that was happening," Wilson said.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Act Party leader David Seymour suggested 'bots' drove 'fake submissions' against his Regulatory Standards Bill
ACT Party leader David Seymour claimed 99.5 percent of the submissions received on the Regulatory Standards Bill were created using "bots". The Ministry for Regulation received approximately 23,000 submissions regarding a discussion document about the bill in January. In summarising the feedback, it found 88 percent of submitters opposed the proposed regulations, and 0.33 percent supported or partially supported them. But in an interview on this week's episode of 30 with Guyon Espiner , the newly-appointed deputy prime minister claimed most of the opposing submissions weren't valid. "You're smart enough to know that those 23,000 submissions, 99.5 percent of them, were because somebody figured out how to make a bot make fake submissions that inflated the numbers," Seymour said. The figures quoted were "meaningless" and represented nothing more than somebody "running a smart campaign with a bot". When asked what evidence Seymour had that the submissions were fake, he said it's because "we've looked at them. Because we know what the contents of them is". In a subsequent written statement to RNZ, Seymour said he was referring to "online campaigns" that generate "non-representative samples" that don't reflect public opinion. In a statement, Ministry for Regulation deputy chief executive policy Andrew Royle would not address Seymour's claims about bots directly. Royle said the ministry undertook a "robust process" to analyse all of the submissions received. "Our approach was carefully designed to reflect all submissions in the final analysis, noting there were many similar points made across most of the submissions," he said. The ministry's summary shows its process included a "qualitative" analysis of about 1000 individual submissions. Group submissions and submissions over 10,000 words were read separately. The rest were summarised using AI. There was nothing in the report about bots or other interference in the submissions process. Watch the full interview with David Seymour on 30 With Guyon Espiner . Subscribe to the podcast feed now to get every episode of 30 on your phone when it lands: On Spotify On iHeartRadio On Apple podcasts Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago Andrew Geddis said the use of the word 'bots' was disparaging. "I think he's using bots in that kind of colloquial sense, which is an incredibly dismissive way to refer to individual New Zealanders taking the time to actually engage with his proposal. "If he means some sort of artificial intelligence, computer-generated filling out of the forms without any human intervention, that would have been reported to him by his officials. There was no such report." ActionStation director Kassie Hartendorp said Seymour was trying to discredit any opposition to his views. "If he presents some evidence that there were bots involved, and there's probably ways to be able to do that, if he presents evidence, then fine. But otherwise, it just seems like an outlandish claim that isn't matching up with reality." Kassie Hartendorp (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tuwharetoa) is the Director of ActionStation, a community campaigning platform. Photo: Supplied ActionStation and other campaigning organisations from across the political spectrum have previously created templates to help people write submissions. Hartendorp said those tools were not bots and meant make the submissions process more accessible. "The purpose of those submission tools is to be able to make it as clear and simple as possible, so that people, who might not ever have submitted before, or who don't have much time, can be involved with the democratic process." Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson said he wasn't able to respond to Seymour's claims as the consultation in January was run by the Ministry for Regulation, but said there are protections in place against 'bots' during a select committee process. Similar claims about the impact of automated software were made during the submissions process on the Treaty Principles Bill in January, which attracted more than 300,000 submissions, but no evidence was found to support any such interference. "Our cybersecurity people were not aware that any of the submissions were made that way, and they do have security in place to alert them to if that was happening," Wilson said.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Hairdressing law shake-up announced by David Seymour
Separate hairdressing regulations are set to be scrapped, with cabinet agreeing to all four recommendations from a regulatory review into the hairdressing and barbering industry. The review, carried out by the Ministry for Regulation along with the Ministry of Health , looked at the regulations the industry needed to follow and whether any of them were deemed to be unnecessary or holding the industry back. They included rules prohibiting dogs, other than guide-dogs, from being inside a barber shop and a ban on staff serving their clients refreshments. Minister for Regulation David Seymour said "pointless bureaucracy" was being cut back. "This is buzz cut season for red tape and regulation at salons up and down New Zealand. We are taking a serious trim to the amount of pointless bureaucracy, really shaving it back to the scalp where it's no longer needed because it's critical that people up and down this country who run small businesses can spend more time doing what they want to do and spend less time complying with pointless rules and regulations. "The savings ... are about $1 million a year. Some will say 'what's a million dollars in the context of the whole economy', I say how many times do you see a government actually removing rules that aren't needed, actually saving money year after year to make it easier to get on with our lives." The cost of the review had been about half a million dollars over six months, he said, "and give it 10 years' time it will have paid for itself 20 times over". Seymour said the changes being talked about would come into effect from 1 July, but changes to the sale and supply of alcohol would need to go through legislation he hoped to convince his coalition partners to progress before the end of the year. He said hairdressing was a very competitive industry, and concerns about hygiene and sanitation would be "solved by customer vigilance and competition amongst salons, it doesn't actually require an inspector to come in". If he was wrong about that, the requirement for the rules to be reassessed after two years would see the rules reintroduced "but I don't think that will happen". David Seymour at today's announcement. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Announcing the review in December, Seymour said regulations were not making a practical difference to public health, but were frustrating business owners and customers . The review has now recommended a full revoke of the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980. Seymour said compliance with health and safety, building regulations and general public health requirements was required already and there was no need for separate regulation from the 1980s. "Existing regulations aren't making a practical difference to safety, but the compliance is frustrating and costly. We anticipate that revoking all existing regulations will save the industry a minimum of about $1 million per year," he said. Seymour said the review also found that existing regulations were often applied inconsistently, with annual registration fees set by local government varying between $140 and $495, depending on location. "Examples of absurd rules include how far apart salon seats should be, how bright the lights in the business are, whether you can have a 'cuppa' with your cut and whether dogs are allowed in salons. From the end of July now these decisions will be up to the business owner," he said. Minister for Regulation David Seymour announces a shakeup in hairdressing regulations. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The review put forward two options in revoking the existing regulations. One option was to rely on existing mechanisms in other legislation along with new industry guidance. The other was to replace the current regulations with risk-based regulations, focused on health and hygiene practices. Ultimately, it recommended the first option, with the possibility that more targeted regulations could be introduced at a later date. The Ministry for Regulation will work with the Ministry of Health on hygiene, disinfection, and sanitation guidance, accompanying WorkSafe's existing guidance. It will also work with the Ministry of Justice to respond to concerns raised by submitters over how alcohol licensing applies to the industry. Once the regulations are revoked, the Ministry for Regulation will be required to report back in two years to see whether the risks were being appropriately managed by the new regime or whether new risk-based regulations should be introduced. The review identified some instances of harm still occurring in the industry, such as ACC claims related to non-workers, complaints to the industry body and complaints to the Commerce Commission. But it said the harm was low-level and existing regulations were not proportionate to the risks. The review was the third sector-wide regulatory review carried out by the Ministry for Regulation, following reviews into early childhood education and agricultural and horticultural products. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Watch live: Hairdressing law shake-up announced by David Seymour
Minister for Regulation David Seymour gets a trim after announcing a review of hairdressing regulations in December. Photo: RNZ / Felix Walton Separate hairdressing regulations are set to be scrapped, with cabinet agreeing to all four recommendations from a regulatory review into the hairdressing and barbering industry. The review, carried out by the Ministry for Regulation along with the Ministry of Health , looked at the regulations the industry needed to follow and whether any of them were deemed to be unnecessary or holding the industry back. They included rules prohibiting dogs, other than guide-dogs, from being inside a barber shop and a ban on staff serving their clients refreshments. Announcing the review in December, Minister for Regulation David Seymour said regulations were not making a practical difference to public health, but were frustrating business owners and customers . David Seymour gets a trim after announcing a review of hairdressing regulations. "Best hair in the coalition," he says. Photo: RNZ / Felix Walton The review has now recommended a full revoke of the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980. Seymour said compliance with health and safety, building regulations and general public health requirements was required already and there was no need for separate regulation from the 1980s. "Existing regulations aren't making a practical difference to safety, but the compliance is frustrating and costly. We anticipate that revoking all existing regulations will save the industry a minimum of about $1 million per year," he said. Seymour said the review also found that existing regulations were often applied inconsistently, with annual registration fees set by local government varying between $140 and $495, depending on location. "Examples of absurd rules include how far apart salon seats should be, how bright the lights in the business are, whether you can have a 'cuppa' with your cut and whether dogs are allowed in salons. From the end of July now these decisions will be up to the business owner," he said. The review put forward two options in revoking the existing regulations. One option was to rely on existing mechanisms in other legislation along with new industry guidance. The other was to replace the current regulations with risk-based regulations, focused on health and hygiene practices. Ultimately, it recommended the first option, with the possibility that more targeted regulations could be introduced at a later date. The Ministry for Regulation will work with the Ministry of Health on hygiene, disinfection, and sanitation guidance, accompanying WorkSafe's existing guidance. It will also work with the Ministry of Justice to respond to concerns raised by submitters over how alcohol licensing applies to the industry. Once the regulations are revoked, the Ministry for Regulation will be required to report back in two years to see whether the risks were being appropriately managed by the new regime or whether new risk-based regulations should be introduced. The review identified some instances of harm still occurring in the industry, such as ACC claims related to non-workers, complaints to the industry body and complaints to the Commerce Commission. But it said the harm was low-level and existing regulations were not proportionate to the risks. The review was the third sector-wide regulatory review carried out by the Ministry for Regulation, following reviews into early childhood education and agricultural and horticultural products. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
26-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Government sets targets to reduce new agricultural and horticultural product approval wait times
Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard wants the queue of new agricultural and horticultural products waiting for approval to reduce by 20 percent by the end of June. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver The Ministers for the Environment and Food Safety have set targets to reduce the queues to approve new agricultural and horticultural products. Cabinet has agreed to all sixteen of the recommendations from the regulatory review into the products, which was undertaken by the new Ministry for Regulation and supported by the Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand Food Safety, Ministry for the Environment and the Environmental Protection Authority. The review, which was announced last June, intended to make it easier for farmers and growers to access new products like pesticides, inhibitors, feed and fertilisers. Released in February, the review found that regulatory systems were effective in managing risks to human, animal and plant health, biosecurity and the environment, but that the approval path did not always enable efficient and timely access to the products. Among its recommendations were updating the Environmental Protection Authority's risk assessment models, reducing efficacy requirements for inhibitors to the minimum required to manage risks and introducing targets to reduce product queues. Access to the products is managed under the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Act and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisims (HSNO) Act. Environment Minister Penny Simmonds said she had set a target to reduce the HSNO queue by 10 percent in 2025-26 and would set a more ambitious target once additional staff were appointed. Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard said he wanted a 20 percent queue reduction for ACVM products by the end of June 2025, compared to October 2024. By the end of June 2026, he wanted to see queues reduce by a further 30 percent. The review also called for the two systems to co-ordinate better by offering combined guidance and by sharing industry knowledge and technical expertise. The ministers would be responsible for an Omnibus Bill to accelerate the improvements. Minister for Regulation David Seymour said it was estimated that reducing the current approval timelines for new products by half could generate benefits of about $272 million over 20 years. "The changes will speed up the application process, make it clearer and more transparent, and ensure existing international research is utilised," he said. "The seeds of innovation are sown and it's officially the season for growth. The Minister for Food Safety and the Minister for the Environment will action these changes to streamline the product approval pathway. This means farmers and growers can utilise newer and better products faster." The review was the second launched by the Ministry for Regulation following a review into early childhood education and preceding reviews into the hairdessing and barbering industry, and telecommunications. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
