57381 (2025). Francisco Hernandez to the Minister for Regulation

57381 (2025). Francisco Hernandez to the Minister for Regulation: What was the process, if any, and reasoning, if any, for making the Fast Track Amendment Bill exempt from needing a regulatory impact statement?

Hon David Seymour: I am informed that the Ministry for Regulation received a request from the Ministry for the Environment to exempt proposals related to the Fast Track Approvals Amendment Bill. Officials advise that the exemption request was assessed against the criteria set out in the Cabinet circular CO(24)7 Impact analysis requirements, in line with standard process, and approved on the basis of limited impacts. The proposals were considered by Cabinet in August 2025. The request was only for a subset of policy decisions that went to Cabinet. Note that agencies are required to confirm their Regulatory Impact Analysis requirements each time they seek Cabinet decisions, and the exemptions did not apply to the whole Fast Track Approvals Amendment Bill.