New Zealand's regulatory system is not broken, but is "muddling through", according to the Productivity Commission.

Public input has been invited on the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill.

Civil pecuniary penalties can be hefty and are being used increasingly in major commercial statutes to drive compliance.

The cases also deal with public law issues on the third source of government power and the use of declaratory judgments.

Round one of the government's reform agenda for local government was completed with the rewrite of the LG Act 2002.

Proposed reforms aim to promote amalgamation among and impose stronger disciplines on NZ's 78 councils.

The Court guidance was useful to the Trade Minister when reconsidering his decision to refuse a request under the OIA.

The Waitangi Tribunal will hear a claim that the proposed partial share floats breach the Crown's Treaty obligations.

The New Zealand High Court decision in Leisureworld Limited v Elite Fitness Equipment Ltd, CIV 2006-404-3499, 21 July 2006 per Heath J, illustrated the ongoing conflict between the rights of New Zealand registered trade mark owners and the right to parallel import into New Zealand.

Late last year, the much awaited final piece of legislation reforming the governance structure of Auckland was introduced to Parliament. Adopting the 'rolling maul' style of legislative reform, the Local Government (Auckland Law Reform) Bill substantially amends and adds to the first two pieces of 'Supercity' legislation in the drive towards the creation of one council on 1 November this year.

Two new bills involve an extension of the minimum wage to some contractors and an improvement of employment standards. .

The Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011, passed last week, is essentially an experiment in political and legal alchemy. Akin to the fabled quest to turn copper into gold, the Act seeks to translate – but also transform – customary, common law and Treaty of Waitangi rights into a self-contained statutory regime.

In our last update, we referred to the very significant changes proposed by the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance. On Tuesday afternoon last week, the NZ Government released its response to the Commission's report.

National went into the election campaign having already laid the foundations for much of its second term agenda.

In this issue: Record Fine for Cartel Activities, Proposed Bus Acquisition and the Commerce Act, Prohibition Against Resale Price Maintenance Bites

This is an update of recent legislation, inquiries, government consultations and news associated with the NZ Parliament.

The new Local Government (Auckland Council) Act, recently passed under urgency, provides for the governance structure of the Auckland Council.

The Resource Management (Simplifying and Streamlining) Amendment Bill (the Bill) was introduced to Parliament on 19 February 2009, and follows various government announcements and substantial public interest in the proposed changes.

New Zealand's Parliament has passed the Patents Amendments Bill 2025, addressing a long-standing inconsistency in patent law regarding divisional applications filed under the old Patents Act 1953.

On 1 December 2005, the Court of Appeal struck out all causes of action against the Crown as successor to the liabilities of the Building Industry Authority (‘BIA’) in Attorney-General v Body Corporate No. 200200 & Ors CA 30/05.