Govt keen to repeal 152 laws – why you probably won’t notice they’re gone

The Government is looking to repeal more than 150 “outdated and obsolete” laws, in what may be one of the biggest statutory clear-ups in history.

Attorney-General Chris Bishop announced the “statutory spring clean” today, saying that while the laws were technically on the books, many were no longer necessary and not even enforced.

“Roughly half of all acts still technically in force were passed between 1840 and the 1960s, and many are now obsolete. That creates confusion, unnecessary complexity and occasionally some very odd situations,” Bishop said.

Many of the laws were no longer enforced.

He listed the example of the Wellington Milk-Supply Act 1919, which established a council-controlled licensing regime for milk vendors in the capital and makes it illegal to sell skim milk within the city boundaries.

“The law is so old and obscure that Wellington City Council was almost dragged into court in 2021 after a lawyer, Tyrone Barugh, asked it to issue a milk licence under the act.

“The council and Mr Barugh avoided the matter going to court on the basis that they would work together to encourage the Government to repeal the act for legal certainty,” Bishop said.

Another law Bishop wants to repeal is the Dunedin City Fish-markets and Empowering Act 1918.

This law allowed the Dunedin City Council to engage in the fish trade, and buy and sell sheep.

“Dunedin City Council no longer operates a fish market or trades livestock as far as I’m aware, so we can probably put this one out to pasture,” Bishop said.

Another law slated for repeal is the Kaitangata Relief Fund Transfer Act 1892, which followed one of New Zealand’s earliest industrial disasters in 1879 when an explosion at the Kaitangata mine killed 34 miners. Public donations raised money for the widows and children of those killed, with the remaining surplus later transferred into a mining accident fund through the act.

How the ‘spring clean’ works

Bishop said the “legislative clean-up” will be run in stages, led by the Parliamentary Counsel Office alongside the Department of Internal Affairs for local acts.

He said each law identified for repeal will be reviewed and consulted on with relevant organisations, agencies, councils and stakeholders.

Public consultation on the 152 acts identified for repeal is open now and closes on July 31. Consultation on another round of acts is planned for later this year.

After the consultation, a bill will be drafted to repeal the laws. It will go through a full parliamentary process.

He said that while the laws will be repealed, their history will not be erased. These acts remain permanently accessible on the New Zealand Legislation website as part of New Zealand’s legal and historical record.

List of parliamentary acts identified for repeal

Local acts

1. Mairetahi Loan Conversion Act 1898

2. Whangarei Drill-shed Act 1892

3. Thames Deep Levels Enabling Act 1906

4. Tauranga East Coast and Hot Lakes District Railway Company (Limited) Empowering Act 1882

5. Tauranga County Empowering (Community Centres) Act 1965

6. Port Ahuriri-Westshore Road And Railway Act 1914

7. Norsewood Mechanics Institute Site Act 1878

8. Inglewood Technical-School Site Act 1909

9. Stratford County Act 1890

10. Stratford County Districts Adjustment Act 1891

11. New Plymouth Borough Council Empowering Act 1929

12. Waimate Agricultural Reserve Dairy School Act 1906

13. Makerua Drainage Board Loan Empowering Act 1927

14. Hamerton Pension Act 1891

15. Masterton Borough Council Staff Retiring Fund Act 1962

16. Masterton Public Park Management Act 1901

17. Masterton Trust Lands Act 1889

18. Canterbury Society of Arts Reserve Act 1889 Extension Act 1891

19. Christchurch City Empowering and Special Rates Consolidation Act 1941

20. Christchurch City Empowering Act (No 2) 1946

21. Christchurch City Reclamation and Empowering Act 1964

22. Lincoln Road Board Empowering Act 1908

23. Rawhiti Domain Act 1925

24. Sumner Borough Land Vesting Act 1929

25. Papanui Memorial Hall Enabling Act 1939

26. Balclutha Housing Act 1945

27. Balclutha Borough (Forestry) Empowering Act 1954

28. Oamaru Market Reserve Act 1878

29. Oamaru Municipal Exchange and Market Reserve Leasing Act 1911

30. Bruce County Empowering (Community Centres) Act 1970

31. Whangarei Borough Leasing Empowering Act 1922

32. Costley Training Institution Act 1885

33. Auckland Savings-Bank Educational Special Donation Act 1906

34. Paeroa Water-supply Transfer Validation Act 1922

35. Rangitaiki Drainage Board (Surplus Land Development and Sale) Empowering Act 1976

36. Napier Harbour Board and Napier Borough Enabling Act 1926

37. Hawera Technical School Site Exchange Act 1908

38. Palmerston North Library Empowering Act 1927 Wellington City Sanitation Loan Empowering Act 1892

39. Wellington City Sanitation Loan Empowering Act 1892

40. Wellington City Streets Act 1899

41. Wellington City Streets Act 1905

42. Wellington and Karori Sanitation and Water-supply Act 1912

43. Wellington City Betterment Act 1900

44. Wellington City Milk-supply Act 1919

45. Wellington City and Suburban Districts Ambulance Transport Service Act 1927

46. Wellington Free Ambulance Act 1941

47. Hutt Valley and Bays Metropolitan Milk Board Validation Act 1952

48. Petone Borough Empowering Act 1905

49. Wellington City Empowering Act 1889

50. Wellington City Empowering Act 1897

51. Wellington City Empowering Act 1925

52. Wellington City Empowering Act 1926

53. Wellington City Empowering Act 1928

54. Nelson Waterworks Extension Act 1935

55. Nelson City Empowering Act 1938

56. Timaru Mechanics’ Institute Act 1877

57. Timaru Harbour Board Loan and Empowering Act 1966

58. Ashburton Water-Supply (Lagmhor Creek) Act 1928

59. Dunedin Technical School Site Act 1911

60. Cromwell Athenaeum Reserves Act 1877

61. Ohai Railway Board Act 1932

62. Riverton Borough Empowering Act 1947

63. Hastings Borough Loan Empowering Act 1910

64. Hawke’s Bay County, Hastings Borough, and Havelock North Town Board Empowering Act 1929

65. Mount Cook Reserve Sale Act 1878

66. Wellington Boys’ Institute Act 1891

67. Wellington Boys’ Institute Act 1897

68. Masterton Public Park Extension Act 1905

69. Motueka Borough Council Library Act 1928

70. Waimate Public Library Act 1889

71. City of Dunedin Leasing Act 1886

72. City of Dunedin Leasing Powers Act 1884

73. Dunedin City (Suburban Water Charges) Empowering Act 1937

74. Dunedin City Fish-markets And Empowering Act 1918

75. Dunedin Garrison Hall Trustees Empowering Act 1893

76. Dunedin Southern Market Reserve Leasing Act 1882

77. Kaitangata Relief Fund Transfer Act 1892

78. Milton Athenaeum Endowment Act 1878

79. Otago Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools Board Empowering Act 1906

80. Port Chalmers Fire-Brigade Site Act 1886

81. Tapanui Hospital Reserve Vesting Act 1907

82. Waiwera School Glebe Sale Act 1877

83. Invercargill Cemetery Vesting Act 1905

84. Invercargill Waterworks Reserve Act 1887

Public acts

85. Auckland Public Buildings Act 1876

86. Borough of Thames Tramways Act 1874

87. Borough of Wanganui Borrowing Act 1872

88. City of Dunedin Gasworks Act 1874

89. Napier Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute Incorporation Act 1876

90. Wellington City Reserves Act 1871

91. Campbelltown Athenaeum Act 1875

92. Admiralty House Act Repeal Act 1903

93. Annual Reporting and Audit Time Frames Extensions Legislation Act 2021

94. Methodist Church of Australasia in New Zealand Act 1902

95. Poverty Bay Land and Deeds Registration Districts Act 1896

96. Public Reserves Sale Act 1879

97. Queenstown Reserves Act 1905

98. Wellington and Manawatu Railway Purchase Act 1908

99. Wellington Corporate Land Act 1876

Private acts

100. Otago and Southland Investment Company (Limited) Act 1864

101. Duck’s Nest Dam Act 1865

102. Lincoln Road Mill Dam Act 1865

103. Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company’s Additional Capital and Debentures Validation Act 1886

104. Stratford Electric Lighting Act 1898

105. Marine and Power Engineers’ Institute Incorporation Act 1925

106. London and New Zealand Bank, Limited Act 1928

107. Dominion Life Assurance Office of New Zealand, Limited, Act 1931

108. United Wheatgrowers Act 1936

109. Molyneux Gold Dredging Company (Claims Amalgamation) Act 1936

110. Automobile Association (Central) Act 1980

111. Dannevirke and District Soldiers’ Institute Dissolution Act 1983

112. William Robinson Estate Trusts Act 1893

113. Charles Joseph Jury Estate Empowering Act 1919

114. John Duncan McGruer Estate Act 1945

115. Wellington City Council (Te Aro Reclamation) Act 1879

116. Wellington Waterworks Act 1871

117. Taumarunui District Services’ Memorial Fund Act 1962

118. Whakatane Paper Mills, Limited, Water-supply Empowering Act 1936

119. Whakatane Board Mills Limited Water Supply Act 1961

120. Nelson Diocesan Trust Board Empowering Act 1937

121. Joint Council of the Order of St John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society Incorporation Act 1938

122. Georgetti Trust Estate Act 1915

123. Homewood Trust Act 1942

124. Ashburton County Council Empowering Act 1882

125. Auckland Hospital Board Trusts Empowering Act 1953

126. Bryant House Trust Board Enabling Act 1948

127. Mary Bryant Trust Board Enabling Act 1955

128. Bryant House Trust Board Enabling Act 1960

129. Bryant Nursery Trust Board Enabling Act 1968

130. Mary Bryant Trust Board Enabling Act 1975

131. Canterbury Jewish Cemetery Empowering Act 1943

132. Cawthron Institute Trust Board Empowering Act 1949

133. Otago Southland Flood Relief Committee Empowering Act 1980

134. Saint Mary’s Guild Trust Act 1956

135. Wills’s Road Hall Act 1935

Provincial acts

136. Nelson Waterworks Act 1863

137. Cromwell Athenaeum Ordinance 1873

138. Caledonian Society Of Otago Incorporation Ordinance 1874

139. Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1871

140. Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance Amendment Ordinance 1872 (O)

141. Invercargill Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1873 (O)

142. Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1875 (O)

143. Arrowtown Athenaeum Ordinance 1875 (O)

144. Education Reserves Ordinance 1864 (O)

145. Education Reserves Ordinance 1865 (O)

146. Picton Institute Act 1864 (M)

147. Public Buildings Act 1875 (A)

148. Reserve No 168 Ordinance 1875 (C)

149. Reserve No 424 Ordinance 1873 (C)

150. Riverton Athenaeum Ordinance 1873 (O)

151. Riverton Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1875 (O)

152. Roslyn Institute Ordinance 1874 (O)