Seymour set to topple ECE ‘orange cones’ by 2025
David Seymour has told Waikato business people that he’ll topple early childhood “orange cones” in 2025.
At a business briefing hosted by Waikato Chamber of Commerce yesterday, the ACT party leader and minister for the new Ministry of Regulation promised that his small team of policy analysts will sift through regulations from sector to sector and slash red tape.
Seymour told Waikato Times that he saw “lots of orange cones” on his drive to the event, reminding him of New Zealand’s invisible red tape.
“People know that their houses are expensive. They know the roads are congested. They don't see the traffic management plans and the building consent regulations that cause those problems.”
The first industry Seymour chooses to tackle is the Early Child Education (ECE) sector. He said those working in the sector would start to feel the impact of promised deregulation in 2025.
As outlined by the party’s policy document, regulations on the chopping block include recording all foods served during an ECE centre’s hours of operation.
Asked whether removing such regulation could put a child at risk, Seymour said parents don’t record food at home.
“Certainly parents at their own homes don’t have to do those things.”
Seymour said this rule meant parents who help in ECE centres also had to document their own children’s food.
“So you’d have to ask yourself, does it make them safer? Perhaps, not always. Is the cost of doing it outweighing the benefits? Maybe not.”
He said the extra compliance could make centres unaffordable for many parents.
“They might be worse off than if they attended a place without those rules.”
Three other industries - health, farming and financial services - will also face the ministry’s compliance review during the Government’s first term.
With coalition partners pushing for other legislation such as the Fast Track Approvals Bill, Seymour said the new ministry wouldn’t do any harm as the policies aim for “increasing freedom, reducing red tape, pro business”.
He said an exemplary good policy would be fishing regulations, evidenced by an increased number of fish in New Zealand’s coast since the 1980s, when the fish population “bottomed out”.
Chief executive of the chamber, Don Good, said businesses were wondering where the Government was heading, and it was a good opportunity to have their questions answered by a senior minister.
“[The Government] They’ve got some problems to sort out, some fairly large ones,” he said.