Coherent
Melanie Nelson hosts in-depth interviews unpacking the political issues shaping Aotearoa New Zealand today. Join us as we explore the sweeping reforms transforming our society, affecting areas like the environment, Indigenous rights, and social cohesion. Our conversations provide clarity, context and hope in uncertain times.
Coherent
#4 Russel Norman on the Regulatory Standards Bill: Deregulation, Democracy, and the Fight for the Environment
In this powerful episode of the Coherent podcast, Dr Russel Norman — Executive Director of Greenpeace Aotearoa and former Green Party MP — joins Melanie Nelson to dissect the Regulatory Standards Bill and its far-reaching implications. Drawing on his years inside Parliament and his frontline environmental advocacy, Russel exposes how the Bill would constrain democratic decision-making, empower polluters, and undermine efforts to address climate change and protect New Zealand’s natural heritage.
We explore how the Bill gives new legal tools to corporations to resist regulation, risks reversing the polluter pays principle, and represents a broader international wave of neoliberal rollback. Russel incisively unpacks the ideological underpinnings of the Bill and the chilling effect it could have on environmental protection, regulation, and democratic participation.
Whether you care about clean rivers, climate action, or the right of citizens to hold polluters accountable, this episode offers crucial insight into why the Regulatory Standards Bill matters — and how civil society must respond.
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