Category: MIL-OSI

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Good afternoon!

I want to acknowledge the immense amount of work Minister Bishop has done in leading this Going for Housing Growth programme – it is vitally important.

As the Minister flagged, central to Going for Housing Growth is this idea that growth should pay for growth, and a key tension in this system centres on finding a balance between certainty about where growth will occur and having the flexibility to respond to demand.

The Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act (IFFA) hits both of these things – it levies those benefitting from the infrastructure and is an important piece in this responsiveness puzzle, enabling demand-led growth without further straining councils’ balance sheets.

However, we’ve become aware of barriers to its use, so we’re making some changes to make it fit for purpose, which I’ve been tasked with leading.

IFFA background

The IFFA emerged from a great example of the market innovating to solve coordination problems and deliver benefits much sooner than the public sector could have. 

Developers saw an opportunity at Milldale to deliver housing but needed infrastructure to enable that to happen.

Unable to rely on a council constrained by its own growth plans and lack of funds, the developers set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to raise the finance needed to deliver the infrastructure and then levied the subsequent landowners to repay the debt.

Recognising the value of this approach, the government at the time rightly sought to codify this to be replicated around the country, culminating in the IFFA.

In addition to providing a responsive, market-led pathway to enable greenfield development, the IFFA has several benefits.

It can enable intensification in existing urban areas by funding and financing infrastructure upgrades.

As the SPV is off balance sheet, it preserves council debt headroom while delivering additional infrastructure capacity. 

It ensures revenue streams are certain and are hypothecated to the relevant infrastructure.

It ensures fairness in that those who benefit pay – it spreads the infrastructure costs over a longer period of time and, therefore, more fairly across the beneficiaries over that infrastructure’s lifespan.

Yet, its responsive, market-led vision has not been realised.

No further greenfield deal has been done since the IFFA’s Milldale inspiration, with only two city-wide levies have been struck.

We set out to understand why, and we have gone about fixing it.

Streamline levy development and approval

We’ve heard the process for standing up an IFFA transaction is unnecessarily burdensome and costly.

A range of requirements are duplicated and redundant, which slow the process without adding any real benefit.

A Minister doesn’t need to be bogged down with immaterial technical detail, and we don’t need ambiguities that arbitrarily leave some important matters neglected.

We’re making a range of detailed changes to address this.

Our focus is to ensure the right information is available in the right format at the right time to make the right decisions.

There is also an embedded suggestion that a Minister is somehow always the best arbiter of what’s reasonable and affordable, even where affordability is already internalised.

While we acknowledge the decision to impose a levy on existing ratepayers is a serious one, if a greenfield levy is proposed by the developer with skin in the game, or everyone affected otherwise consents, we are now going to take the wild approach of trusting that they’re acting in their own best interests.

Increasing uptake

Extending access to a variety of users 

Last year, Cabinet made the decision to extend the scope of the IFFA to cover water entities under Local Water Done Well, and now we’re extending it further to NZTA projects. 

This will mean major transport projects can recover a share of the infrastructure cost from those who benefit from an increase in development capacity, helping growth pay for growth and adding to the potential funding stack.

Supporting developer-led proposals

Part of the current process requires a levy to be endorsed by levy and infrastructure authorities, such as councils, before a proposal can be progressed, with no clear criteria to limit obstruction.

In pursuit of responsiveness and growth, we are making changes that will require the endorsements to be given where statutory requirements are met.

We cannot afford to give a licence to say ‘no’, so we’re not going to give it.

Deferrals

We’re also moving to enable levy payment flexibility.

While infrastructure adds value to properties which benefit, and generally increases wealth, annual levies may be difficult to provide for when property owners may not have much financial headroom.

We’re therefore introducing levy deferral options, so property owners can defer payment to a later date or until a specified triggering event. 

Ensuring deferral options are reflected clearly and transparently will mean all parties can make better decisions, including the responsible Minister through the affordability assessment.

Project eligibility

Currently, there is ambiguity about whether projects commissioned prior to when a levy proposal is submitted are eligible, so we’re clarifying that projects commissioned up to two years prior will be. 

This will extend coverage to circumstances where projects may have recently been completed but house sales have yet to occur.

Use for development levies

With the advent of the development levies Minister Bishop has just announced, we’re also making changes to help them work together with the IFFA.

If a developer is facing the prospect of big development levy for council-provided infrastructure, there may be demand for the IFFA to finance this to be repaid by future homeowners.

For this use case, we are removing the requirement that IFFA levies have a direct link to specific bulk infrastructure.

Other changes

There are a range of other changes, such as:

• SPVs getting explicit powers to commence recovery action for unpaid levies
• councils being able to request reimbursement of levy administration costs as a condition of endorsement
• introducing flexibility about where the infrastructure must be vested
• putting levies on an even keel with rates in the event of a rating sale
• several other minor, technical, and remedial tweaks.

Together, these changes will deliver a more usable pathway for IFFA deals that can be accessed by developers and others.

The objective is to deliver infrastructure that may not have been planned by councils or planned for in the timeframe that developers need it.

Conclusion

While the IFFA is relatively technical, it is a very important tool, and it has a key role in facilitating demand-led growth.

By streamlining processes and improving usability, and having National Infrastructure Funding and Financing (NIFF) engaged to assist councils and others with expertise and growing capacity, we expect the IFFA will be much more attractive and used much more widely.

We need growth, and growth must be responsive to demand.

The IFFA has a distinct and important role in delivering this.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Good morning, everybody.

It’s great to see such a good cross-section of people from local government here today.

Against a backdrop of skyrocketing rates and massive cost of living pressures, a lot has been made recently of the need to go ‘back to basics’ and to ‘go for growth.’

These two things are critically linked.

Moving back to basics means consciously reducing government scope to the bare minimum and avoiding unnecessary intervention in people’s lives.

Reduced intervention frees people to do what they do best, and unlocks potential gains in efficiency, innovation, and productivity – all vital ingredients to deliver economic growth.

With this in mind, it’s heartening to join you on a day focused on showing communities value, and sharpening councils’ value stories.

However, I’m aware that the ability to sharpen value stories is inherently constrained when working with such a blunting instrument as the Resource Management Act.

The RMA’s downfall

There are endless examples of the absurdity that’s ensued under the RMA. Every week I am reading new articles, receiving new letters, and hearing new stories about the obstruction it has delivered.

I think of the letter I received from an Upper Hutt man who was blocked from cutting down a tree on his own property, assessed as dangerous by both his neighbour and an arborist – a generic pin oak not even listed on the plan.

I think of Tracy Fleet in Ashburton who, facing a similar situation, was slapped with a $7000 fine and a criminal conviction for pruning a tree so dangerous insurers were turning away, after a years-long, strung-out saga that was also swallowing up her ratepayer dollars in the process.

I think of Curt and Tricia Zant whose Hawke’s Bay farm was slapped with an ‘Outstanding Natural Feature’ classification in the council’s plan, restricting their ability to invest time, care, and capital into their land to drive the growth we’re seeking, without any compensation for their loss – I’ll come back to this.

I think of Datagrid whose land provides a great location to invest in a data centre and subsea cable network expansion. This would capitalise on the window of opportunity that is the spiking demand for data storage and faster connectivity in the age of artificial intelligence and the cloud. How ironic that this immense growth opportunity has been stalled by the imposition of a so-called ‘highly productive’ classification on their land, tying them up in consenting quicksand to protect a turnip crop.

I think of attempts to build a new McDonald’s, Starbucks, Burger King, or even a supermarket, where the RMA’s breadth has somehow gotten us to a point where vexatious objectors have been able to weaponise any number of irrelevant ‘effects’ to obstruct things they don’t like.

These are just some of the many examples up and down this country where people and organisations, big and small, are facing massive restrictions on the use of their property, too often for tenuous reasons enabled by the RMA that amount to little more than subjective ‘vibe’.

Whether it’s protecting dangerous trees, debating the vibe of landscapes and architecture, pontificating on how a property owner should best use their own land, or having to consider all manner of reckons – from the health profile of food to the competition ‘effects’ of a new business – the current council ‘value’ story is a hard one to tell.

The solution

The good news is that our commitment to replace the RMA with a system based on property rights will reduce the scope of resource management and liberate councils to focus on things that actually deliver value for ratepayers.

Last year, Cabinet agreed the principles and direction that would guide the replacement.

First things first: we must narrow the scope of the system to focus on material effects, and to promote the enjoyment of property rights. As is clear from the examples above, and countless others, the RMA tries to do too many things, and in doing so has become a vehicle to stifle growth. 

When the RMA was developed, the key downfall was integrating management of development and the environment into one purpose, which has treated development as a privilege. We’re going to change that by replacing the RMA with two Acts with distinct purposes – one to manage environmental effects arising from activities and another to enable urban development and infrastructure.

Councils will have clarity on what environmental effects and domains need managing, what needs to be considered when setting limits appropriate to their regions, and the tools available to manage resources within those limits. These tools should include innovative methods for things like water allocation and discharges, so scarce resources go to where they’re needed most, and supply can respond to demand.

What is not negotiable, though, is that human needs will be met. Frustrating development to resist growth doesn’t abate the need for it, nor does it change the reality that human existence necessarily has effects on the environment. If development cannot occur within an environmental limit in one place, then it must occur in another. But development must, and will, occur.

Through codifying into standards established and accepted ways of undertaking activities, the new system will liberate councils from the regulatory anxiety which demands consents and treats applications for common activities like road construction as a potential extermination event. When we’ve done most things in most places before, there’s no reason to start from scratch each time.

Spatial planning will be a core feature, with several important roles. It will separate incompatible land uses, provide protection for infrastructure, and identify natural hazards. The separation of incompatible land uses will be a key mechanism for managing potential neighbourhood effects like noise, odour, and the likes.

A stricter effects-based system with a no duplication rule means stripping out regulation and consenting for anything that has no material effects on the natural environment or another property owner, is covered by and complies with another law or national standard, or is subject to a private agreement among all affected parties.

A stricter effects-based system also means limiting who gets a say on what others do with their property if they are not directly affected. Gone will be the days of every Tom, Dick, and Harry sticking their noses into other people’s business at the other end of the country.

All of this will go some way to respecting property rights.

However, for potential situations where management of genuine effects presents residual friction with property rights, we must ask ourselves through this process “who benefits from such a constraint?” and, therefore, “who should bear the cost?”

For example, coming back to the case of the Zants’ issues under the current system – should they be the ones to pay the price of someone else’s decision that the landscape their property sits on is ‘outstanding’ to look at? What incentives does this this create for making sound decisions about what is outstanding when it is costless to the decision maker?

Through all this change to unshackle people from the burdensome approach of up-front consenting, Cabinet has also recognised a corresponding need for a strong compliance monitoring and enforcement regime, ensuring accountability among system participants so this replacement system delivers for both development and the environment.

Conclusion

This is just a sample of some of the key elements to be determined as we shore up the design of the new system, and no doubt there will be interest across other areas – from the role of a planning tribunal type function, to the shift to one plan per region, and beyond.

With the Resource Management Expert Advisory Group now having taken Cabinet’s direction and developed a draft blueprint for RMA replacement, there will be more to share in due course.

One thing that is clear, though, is that engagement of key system participants is important.

Local government is a critical system participant, so I encourage you to take the opportunity to feed into this reform, 

Because liberalising resource management is a critical step in helping councils sharpen their value stories and unlocking the innovation and economic growth we so desperately need.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Two new members have been appointed to the board of Eden Park Trust, Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell says.

“Marama Royal MNZM (Ngāti Whātua) and Hon Simon Bridges (Ngāti Maniapoto) will be bringing their extensive governance experience and passion for the Auckland region to support the leadership of New Zealand’s largest stadium.

“I am confident that these appointments will add fresh perspectives and expertise to help lead Eden Park through the current conversations about the park’s future.

“Marama Royal MNZM is Chair of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust Board and has extensive governance experience. She is an esteemed and experienced iwi leader who will bring significant governance experience, strong networks and deep understanding of the whenua to the role. 

“Hon Simon Bridges is well known for his political experience where he served in several Cabinet positions, and more recently for his role as CEO of Auckland Business Chamber. His experience in both political and commercial settings offer unique perspective, skillset, and networks that would enable the board to thrive.

“I have also reappointed Kereyn Smith CNZM and Bill Birnie CNZM as members of the board to continue their steadfast commitment to the future of Eden Park. 

“These appointments and reappointments will ensure strong leadership and a commitment to the future success of New Zealand’s iconic stadium,” says Mr Mitchell.

“I also acknowledge outgoing members, Victoria Toon and Renata Blair, whose terms ended in February.  They have been influential in supporting relationships with residents, iwi and commercial entities, and I thank them for their services to the board over the years.”

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

The Regional Infrastructure Fund will invest up to $2 million to investigate building additional electricity transmission and distribution capacity in Northland, which could also have benefits further afield, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says.

“New Zealand needs significantly more electricity generation as the economy grows and demand for power increases. Northland is rich in natural renewable resources, such as wind and solar which are suitable for generating renewable energy,” Mr Jones says.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) will use up to $2m from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to investigate the feasibility of upgrading Northland’s electricity infrastructure to act as an ‘energy bridge’ between Northland and Auckland.

MBIE will also carry out an economic analysis of the potential benefits in conjunction with local stakeholders.

“This project has the potential to unlock $1 billion of private investment in new renewable energy. If this is feasible, Northland could become a significant electricity generator and supplier of power which might have flow-on benefits for Auckland and the rest of the country,” Mr Jones says.

“This investment could increase electricity self-sufficiency in the region and improve the power generation capacity and resilience of the Northland network which will benefit local people. It could also reduce power prices for Auckland and nationally if wholesale prices can be brought down.

“More detailed work needs to be done into the feasibility of expanding Northland’s power generation before further government funding can be considered but if the outcome is positive, the payoff could be massive.

“This is a long-term project and there is a lot of water to pass under the bridge yet, but if it goes ahead some new power generation could come online as components are completed, with full commissioning by 2029,” Mr Jones says.

The project aligns with the Coalition Government’s goals of building infrastructure and doubling renewable energy generation for New Zealand by 2035 to reduce emissions and enable economic growth.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

A pilot programme that will help financial technology (fintech) firms shake up competition in the financial and banking sectors is now underway, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson.

“Our Government is focused on improving competition in the areas that matter most to Kiwis. The financial and banking sectors are among the most crucial to our everyday lives and our economic growth – however, they are often criticised as being among the most regulated and, some say, least competitive,” says Mr Simpson.

“We have heard these concerns from the industry and have taken them seriously. I am pleased that the Financial Markets Authority has now announced the six firms that will take part in its pilot ‘regulatory sandbox’ programme, which was announced late last year.

“The sandbox is a testing ground where fintechs can experiment with new products and services in a controlled environment, ensuring they comply with regulations, before doing a full commercial launch.

“The benefits of this programme reach all corners of our economy. For consumers, it opens the door wide for new and innovative solutions that will challenge traditional banks and boost competition, providing more choices about how people manage their money, investments, and day-to-day transactions.

“For fintechs, it means having the freedom and guidance to develop new products and services that will not only benefit customers but also help them supercharge New Zealand’s economic growth. I expect the sandbox will enable firms to save time, reduce costs, and bring innovative products to market sooner.

“Fintechs are exactly the kind of high-value companies that we want to see thrive in New Zealand, but regulatory barriers have prevented them from competing on a level playing field. That’s why our Government is identifying and removing these barriers to support a thriving, scalable fintech industry in New Zealand.

“Our Government also recognises the potential of fintechs to disrupt New Zealand’s financial services sector, increasing competition and choice for Kiwis. With open banking now on track to be operational in New Zealand by the end of the year, this is another action we are taking to help further unlock that potential.

“I look forward to seeing how the firms make use of the sandbox. I encourage them to be bold and push the boundaries as they develop innovative solutions that will bring more choice and better services to consumers.”

Notes to editors:

The firms taking part in the pilot are:

For further details on the regulatory sandbox and the firms participating in the pilot, please visit: https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/focus-areas/innovation/.

It is anticipated the firms will operate within the terms of the sandbox for a period of between 12 and 24 months. Following the pilot, the Financial Markets Authority will make a decision on whether to make the programme permanent.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Taupō Hospital has become the first hospital in the North Island to receive accreditation to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey have announced.

“The Government is committed to growing and strengthening our health workforce, and a strong rural workforce is a key part of that,” Mr Brown says.

“In rural settings where access to specialist health services can be limited, generalist doctors – who can work flexibly across multiple disciplines and service areas – play a vital role.

“This accreditation is a significant step towards building a stronger rural health workforce in Taupō. It will help increase the number of doctors trained with the broad skills needed to support the surrounding rural communities.

“Rural generalists can sustainably manage a broad range of patient needs and work within clinical networks to ensure patients get access to specialist teams when required.

“The ACRRM programme will enable registrars to train to work in Taupō Hospital while also developing advanced skills in fields such as obstetrics, anaesthetics, mental health, or endoscopy.

Mr Doocey says being an accredited ACRRM training location means Taupō can attract both New Zealand and Australian registrars and graduates and provides an opportunity for some New Zealand doctors working overseas to return home during their training.

“One of the five priorities of the National Rural Health Strategy is to create a valued and flexible rural health workforce, and training young doctors as rural generalists directly supports this goal,” Mr Doocey says.

“Taupō Hospital’s new accreditation complements the existing pathway for New Zealand doctors through the New Zealand Rural Hospital Medicine Training Programme.

“All New Zealanders deserve timely access to quality healthcare, and the Government is committed to improving health outcomes, particularly for the one in five Kiwis living in rural areas.

“To improve access and rural health outcomes, we must invest in growing and supporting the rural health workforce. Taupō Hospital’s accreditation is an important step towards that.”

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Minister of Transport Chris Bishop has confirmed the Manawatū Tararua Highway will be opened to traffic from June 2025, restoring an important connection for communities and businesses on both sides of the Tararua Ranges.

“The new highway between Ashhurst and Woodville will replace State Highway 3 through the Manawatū Gorge, which was permanently closed in April 2017 due to landslides,” says Mr Bishop.

“Travel times will be greatly improved for both light and heavy vehicles using the new road. General traffic will take between 10 – 12 minutes to drive the road, which is a significant improvement on the current 20 – 25 minute detour route in place. The new road will be safer and more resilient than the road it’s replacing.

“The road will support productivity for businesses by improving travel times for freight and lowering vehicle operating costs. This corridor is an important freight link between Hawke’s Bay-Wairarapa and the Manawatu-Whanganui regions. Having an efficient, four-lane highway, divided by a median barrier through this transport corridor will boost economic growth for this part of the country and the rest of the North Island.”

“This highway will reconnect the communities severely affected by the closure of the old road. Woodville and Ashhurst have been impacted by the closure, and I would like to acknowledge their patience and their support for the project since its inception.

“The construction teams still have some work to do before the road can open. This includes laying the final stages of asphalt, installing barriers, line marking and, crucially, connecting the new road to the surrounding roading network. The expected cost to complete the project now stands at $824.1 million.

“I’m looking forward to the road being open and I know local communities are too.”

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Sydney today to further promote New Zealand’s infrastructure investment opportunities following the NZ Infrastructure Investment Summit last month.

“The Government has signalled that New Zealand is open for business and going for economic growth. In Sydney I will present a New Zealand Government Infrastructure Investment update to the International Project Finance Association, highlighting the range of upcoming investment opportunities across New Zealand’s infrastructure pipeline,” Mr Bishop says.

“I will attend the 2025 National Infrastructure Awards dinner, hosted by Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, and host an NZTE Investors Roundtable lunch with a range of major potential investors in New Zealand.

“While there I will also visit a range of transport projects, including the WestConnex toll road, and the Paramatta Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) programme. All of these projects offer lessons for New Zealand as we embark on our ambitious transport investment programme.”

Mr Bishop leaves for Sydney today and will conclude his visit on Friday 2 May.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Outdated regulations stopping trained medical professionals from learning about new medicines through trade show advertising are out of step with other countries and disadvantage New Zealanders, Regulation Minister David Seymour, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston say.

“New Zealand’s prohibition on advertising medicines yet to be consented by Medsafe is a barrier to New Zealand’s ability to host medical conferences and trade shows. The opportunity cost of New Zealand missing out on these is huge,” Mr Seymour says.

These laws will be reformed so medicines yet to be consented by Medsafe can be advertised at medical conferences in New Zealand, instead of New Zealand health professionals needing to travel overseas.

“Prohibition was introduced in response to the perceived risk that pharmaceutical companies may attempt to circumvent formal medicine approval processes. The Ministry for Regulation has investigated and found this overly cautious approach is out of step with other recognised jurisdictions and is not proportionate to the perceived risk,” Mr Seymour says.

“Other nations like Australia, Canada, and the European Union allow advertising to generate revenue and provide medical professionals with information on cutting edge medicines. New Zealand doesn’t need to be left behind because of outdated red tape.

“This change is estimated to generate $90 million in associated revenue over the next few years.

“Prohibition also contradicts this Government’s efforts to increase medicines access. Allowing these products to be advertised would upskill doctors and give them the knowledge and skills to prescribe these treatments safely to Kiwis who need them.”

“This Government is committed to removing regulatory barriers so that we can drive economic growth. Removing the red tape around medical conferences will make New Zealand a better destination for conference organisers, while also making it easier for our own healthcare professionals to keep up with the latest innovations in health products and medicines,” Mr Brown says.

“New Zealand’s current health regulations can be overly bureaucratic, and this is slowing down access to care, increasing costs, and making it harder for patients to get the services they need.

“Our regulations can also make it harder to attract, train and retain healthcare workers. Workers want to work with top class treatments and patients want to be able to access them.

“Medical conferences are a great way to expand the collective knowledge and skill of the health workforce through the transfer of ideas and technologies.

“The Government is investing more than ever into our health system – a record $30 billion each year – and we expect it to deliver more for patients as a result.”

“Removing these barriers will also give us an opportunity to showcase our new conference facilities, fantastic hotels, and experiences, and pitch New Zealand as a world class location for business events like medical conferences,” Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says.

“Business event participants spend an average of $175 more per day than other visitors, and often travel during the off-peak season, boosting tourism and economic activity year-round.

“Our message is clear, New Zealand is open for business. We are looking forward to welcoming more medical conferences to New Zealand, and we have great facilities to host them.”

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

New legislation to deter foreign interference and protect New Zealand’s national interests and national security will be in place for operators of ground-based space infrastructure (GBSI) by July, Space Minister Judith Collins said today.

“As I announced last year, we’re taking action to support New Zealand’s interest in the safe, secure and responsible use of space and stop any attempts by foreign entities that do not share our values or interests,” Ms Collins says.

“A new regulatory regime will start in July to deter foreign interference in New Zealand’s infrastructure that carry out tracking and control of spacecraft, space surveillance and the transfer of data to and from spacecraft.

“During the past five years there have been several deceptive efforts by foreign actors to establish and/or use GBSI in New Zealand to harm our national security.

“They have deliberately disguised their affiliations to foreign militaries and mis-represented their intentions.

“To date these risks have been managed through non-regulatory measures, including relying on the goodwill of GBSI operators. These measures are no longer enough.

“The introduction of this new regime will serve as a deterrent. It sends a very clear message that we take our national security seriously, and we will act if we suspect that it is under threat.”

The regime will be rolled out in two stages, with some measures to stop malicious activity available as soon as the legislation comes into effect in July.

Following this, regulations will be put in place setting out detailed requirements for GBSI registration, including for protective security and due diligence systems which in-scope GBSI operators will need to implement. Once the new regulations are in place later this year, there will be a transition period until 1 March 2026 for operators to implement the necessary systems for successful registration.

“The regime will apply to all in-scope operators in New Zealand, including those operating the infrastructure established prior to the regime coming into effect,” Ms Collins says.

“It will be an offence to ignore the requirements of the regulatory regime, and could lead to the seizure of equipment, a $50,000 fine and/or up to one year in jail for an individual, and a fine up to $250,000 for an entity.”

The regulatory regime targets the following GBSI activities and will apply to existing operators in New Zealand:

• Telemetry, tracking and control (including capability that could degrade or disrupt satellite operations) of spacecraft (including, for example, geodetic infrastructure);
• space surveillance and identification of spacecraft; and
• satellite data reception.

Widespread consumer products such as satellite telephones, satellite television or internet receiving dishes will be excluded.

MBIE will act as the regulator of the regime, with the Minister for Space as the decision maker.

The regulatory regime will be included in an Outer Space High Altitude Activities Amendment Bill.