Public Opposition to the Regulatory Standards Bill

A Democratic Reality Check

By Dr Harpreet Singh | drhsinghnz.substack.com | FB: @DrHSinghNZ

Democracy is not measured by votes alone. It is measured by whether people are heard. - Dr Harpreet Singh

When nearly an entire nation speaks, lawmakers should listen. The Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB) has triggered one of the loudest public outcries in New Zealand’s legislative history. This is not a minor disagreement over technical details. It is a clash between public will and political power, and the numbers reveal a story that cannot be ignored.

The Numbers That Matter

The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee received about 159,000 submissions on the bill. An overwhelming 98.7 percent opposed it, which equals roughly 156,933 submissions. Only about 1.3 percent supported the bill, or around 2,000 submissions.

This is not just a statistic. Nearly 157,000 voices said “No”, making this one of the strongest public rejections of a bill ever recorded.

How Does This Compare Politically?

The ACT Party, which championed the bill, received 246,473 party votes nationwide in the 2023 General Election. David Seymour won 15,801 votes in Epsom. Combined ACT electorate votes for Seymour and Brooke van Velden totalled 31,611.

While ACT’s party vote is larger than the number of submissions against the bill, the comparison is striking. Opposition submissions totalled 156,933, while ACT Party votes were 246,473. That means the number of people who actively opposed the bill is more than 63 percent of ACT’s entire national vote and more than five times David Seymour’s personal mandate in Epsom.

Historical Context: Two Records in One Term

The RSB ranks among the most submitted-on bills in New Zealand history. The Treaty Principles Bill in 2025 attracted about 300,000 submissions, making it the record holder. The Regulatory Standards Bill in the same year drew about 159,000 submissions. Other notable bills include the Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill in 2021 with about 107,000 submissions, the End of Life Choice Bill in 2019 with about 39,159 submissions, and the Marriage Equality Bill in 2013 with about 21,533 submissions.

Both the Treaty Principles Bill and the Regulatory Standards Bill, the two highest submission counts ever, occurred under the same government term, signalling a period of unprecedented public resistance to legislative changes.

Why This Matters

When a bill passes despite near-unanimous public opposition, it raises fundamental questions. Whose voices count in a democracy? Does a coalition agreement override public sentiment? What does this mean for trust in government?

The numbers tell a story of disconnect. A law was pushed through by a party with 246,000 votes, against the explicit opposition of 157,000 submissions. In a proportional representation system, this tension between electoral mandate and public consultation cannot be ignored.

The passage of the Regulatory Standards Bill is more than a legislative event. It is a test of democratic integrity. When public engagement reaches historic levels and the overwhelming majority says “No”, yet the law proceeds unchanged, the question is no longer about regulation. It is about representation. If democracy means government by the people, then these numbers demand a reckoning.