The Commerce Committee has reported back [PDF] on Rodney Hide's Regulatory Responsibility Bill, and recommended that it not be passed. The bill would have required all laws and regulations to comply with a set of "responsible regulatory management" principles heavily based in Libertarian ideology, effectively barring further regulation, legislation, or policy unless it was financially profitable to existing vested interests or the government agreed to open-ended compensation - in short, a plan to drown government in the bathtub. The committee rejected it because even the National Party (who you would expect to be sympathetic and who had a majority thanks to Gordon Copeland) want a Parliament which can actually pass laws and enact policies. So instead, Rodney Hide will get an "expert taskforce" to consider how better to inform MPs of the impacts of policy - which isn't a bad thing in and of itself.
The bill will now go on the Order Paper to be voted down - though given the number of second readings there are to work through, that might not happen this term. So, it could still come back to haunt us if ACT is in a position to push for concessions in post-election coalition talks.
