The European Parliament's recent adoption of an anti-SLAPP directive imposes minimum standards to protect individuals from unfounded lawsuits. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, SLAPPs remain largely absent from public discourse.

In January Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith released the final report of the Independent Electoral Review, a process started in May 2022 by then Minister Kris Faafoi.

The distraction around policy costing rather than focusing on the merits of the policies themselves highlights the need for a Parliamentary Budget Office

New Zealanders value a government that is open, and accountable. There are practical ways to see these qualities translated into concrete policies and actions.

Transparency International New Zealand welcomes the review of New Zealand’s regulatory system for media and online platforms reduce the exposure of New Zealanders to harmful content. The current system is out-dated, inconsistent, ineffective, and fails to adequately cover social and other emerging media. We believe with the proposal to move to a consistent, platform-agnostic, content-focused approach proposed in new framework outlined in the discussion document.

In June the Independent Electoral Review panel sought submissions on its interim report. TINZ responded with a submission supporting many of the panel’s recommendations, but not all. Here are some that we find concerning: