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Plain Language Act Repeal Bill

This bill repeals the Plain Language Act 2022 to remove the compliance-based administrative requirements the Act places on public service agencies.

This bill has been accorded urgency in the House. First detected 11 July 2026, 9:20am UTC.

Member in charge: Hon Paul Goldsmith · Government bill · No. 132-1 · urgency accorded 30 Jun 2026 (the remaining stages of)
Bill on parliament.nz → RSS

Want a say? This bill is still moving

Urgency compresses the timetable, not the politics. Until the third reading, the committee of the whole House can still amend the bill — changes are moved right up to the final vote. The channels that operate at this speed:

  • Contact the member in charge — Hon Paul Goldsmith — whose office decides what amendments are put, and your electorate MP. Members’ offices monitor correspondence while the House sits; a specific, clause-level point travels furthest.
  • Contact the opposition spokesperson for this portfolio — they speak and move amendments in the committee stage, and concrete problems raised by affected people are exactly what they put on the record.
  • Start or sign a petition at petitions.parliament.nz — the formal channel that stays open regardless of the House’s timetable.

What this bill changes

AI-assisted analysis · every claim links to primary source · corrections
Published 12 Jul 2026, 11:08pm UTC (separate from, and later than, the alert timestamp above) · model: claude-opus-4-8

In short: The bill repeals the Plain Language Act 2022, ending its plain-language compliance requirements on public service agencies.

What changes
Removes an obligation The Plain Language Act 2022 is repealed, removing the plain-language compliance requirements it imposed on public service agencies.
cl 3 → Plain Language Act 2022 · affects: public service agencies, members of the public communicating with those agencies · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“The Plain Language Act 2022 (2022 No 54) is repealed.”
Procedural This repealing Act is itself repealed 28 days after it comes into force.
cl 4 · affects: public service agencies · confidence: high
The bill text this is based on
“This Act is repealed on the close of the 28th day after the date on which it comes into force.”
Who this affects
public service agenciesmembers of the public communicating with those agencies
Scrutiny

Taken under urgency; the compressed timetable limited scrutiny even where a committee stage existed.

Commencement: Comes into force on the day after Royal assent.
Retrospective: no provision identified
Sunset clause: The close of the 28th day after the date on which it comes into force.
Gaps we can see. Clauses whose effect could not be established from the bill text alone: cl 3 — the specific obligations and duties removed depend on the text of the Plain Language Act 2022, which is not reproduced in this bill.

Method: the model reads the bill as published (claude-opus-4-8); every claim above carries a verbatim span of that text, checked mechanically — claims that fail the check are dropped, not softened. Text analysed from an archived copy of the official text. Full methodology →

Source record — the urgency motion as published
30 June 2026 — scope: the remaining stages of (All remaining stages) 
A motion to accord urgency to the following business was agreed to:
- the remaining stages of:
  - the Antisocial Road Use Legislation Amendment Bill;
  - the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill;
  - the Offshore Renewable Energy Bill;
  - the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill; and
  - the Regulatory Systems (Primary Industries) Amendment Bill;
- the first reading and referral to a select committee of:
  - the Building Amendment Bill; and
  - the Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill;
- the second reading of:
  - the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill;
  - the Crimes Amendment Bill;
  - the Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill;
  - the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill; and
  - the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay) Amendment Bill;
- the first reading and referral to a select committee of:
  - the Community Magistrates Legislation Amendment Bill; and
  - the Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill;
- the second reading of:
  - the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill; and
  - the Emergency Management Bill (No 2);
- the first reading and referral to a select committee of the Regulatory Systems (Social Security) Amendment Bill (No 2);
- the discharge and re-committal to a select committee of the Regulatory Systems (Courts) Amendment Bill; and
- the remaining stages of:
  - the Regulatory Systems (Tribunals) Amendment Bill and the Regulatory Systems (Occupational Regulation) Amendment Bill;
  - the Mental Health Bill;
  - the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill; and
  - the Constitution Amendment Bill.
Source: Daily progress in the House → · Hansard for this sitting day →