The Regulatory Standards Bill will change everything

The bill signals a profoundly ideological shift in the purpose of lawmaking and regulation

RSB tool

As I’ve been working with Melanie Nelson and others on putting together this RSB tool, it’s become clear just how far-reaching the effects of this “straightforward and simple” piece of legislation could be.

In short, the bill will change the way that everyone in government—all government—will have to think about lawmaking and regulation. The reason is those pesky principles of responsible regulation. They are so ideologically-defined they will neuter the ability of lawmakers to consider anything outside of individual liberty and property rights. Sure a law or regulation might try to consider the public good or society in general, but this will be sure to bring down the wrath of Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Board, who is given carte blanche to conduct any investigation of any agency they want. They will blitz anyone who attempts to regulate in the public interest with a deluge of labour-intensive information requests—which must be complied with legally—to see how well the regulation aligns with their libertarian principles. They will then pillory the agency or individual in the public square by producing a damning report which says that the law does not follow their standards of good lawmaking. This process will be repeated from the smallest local governments to Parliament.

The end result will be an ice age of regulatory chilling, where any lawmaking or regulation in the public good will be shut down before it starts for fear of the Regulatory Standards Board, which will become de-facto the most powerful political actor. Of course, it isn’t by chance that the principles for responsible regulation nicely position corporate interests to easily and profitably take advantage of their “individual” liberties and property rights, which is the whole purpose of the bill in the first place. If you don’t believe me, believe Seymour, who let the mask slip in his jubilation at becoming Deputy PM. At his celebratory brunch, he said that ACT was “legislating the Regulatory Standards Bill so for the first time our property rights will be in law.” And he’s not talking about your property rights. He’s talking about corporate property rights.

If all this sounds a bit melodramatic or like hyperbole, please take some time to play with our RSB tool to see just how far-reaching the effects of this bill could be. Then sit down and make a submission. Write to your MP. Use this QR code to make posters. Send it to everyone you can. The public rejection of this must be huge and undeniable.