Sir Geoffrey Palmer giving evidence to Parliament's Regulations Review Committee in July. (File photo) Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
A former Labour Prime Minister says Parliament is passing too many laws without proper scrutiny.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer told Nine to Noon the government was increasingly pushing through legislation under urgency, which allowed it to skip stages such as public consultation and select committees.
But Leader of the House Chris Bishop said just nine Bills have been passed in that way, and there were good reasons for all of them.
Palmer said the normal checks and balances were stripped out when laws were made at pace.
"Urgency has become the default mechanism for dealing with Parliamentary legislation and the standing orders are not followed and you also have extended sittings - and both of those mean the Government's agenda is completely at the will of the Government," he said.
Palmer said the Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024 - and its amendment - was a classic example of a trend that "ministers know best" and was "ministerial dictatorship".
"It was criticised by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment then, Simon Upton, the amendment bill puts the process that was enacted in 2024 on steroids.
"It gets faster and faster. It will be a fast-track to environmental degradation, [more] than it already is."
Bishop was approached for further comment.
The legislation, which passed under urgency at the end of last year, is back before Parliament with an amendment that the government intended to push through by the end of 2025.
It said the amendment to the Act would increase competition in the supermarket sector.
Despite being open for just over 10 days, it received 2158 submissions, with about 95 percent opposed.
Palmer said legislative checks and balances - which he already considered lacking - were further reduced when legislation was made at pace.
"What is the hurry? Legislation is law-making. You want to get it right. You have to analyse it, you have to do proper research, you don't bang it through because a minister has an idea.
"It needs to be properly drafted by Parliamentary council. We have had a degradation of our legislative system in New Zealand in recent years."
Bishop said the government had a big legislative agenda and limited hours in ordinary house time to get it done.
Regarding the use of urgency, he said: "I am reluctant to use urgency to avoid select committees outside of the standard Budget urgency process, and it is only done so when there are good reasons."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
