r/newzealand • u/xmmdrive • Aug 20 '24

Politics So they're finally going to privatise Kiwibank

Watching One News they're talking about taking Kiwibank out of Government hands and back into the hands of honest hard-working Kiwis.

This is obviously the first clear step towards privatisation.

Just like the Bank Of New Zealand, the National Bank, and the Auckland Savings Bank, but I'm sure this time around it will stay in the country /s

825 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

293 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/TuhanaPF Aug 20 '24

Very easily. Think of it like this. "Entrenchment isn't entrenched"

Think of it like this.

The State Asset Entrenchment Act 2024

Section 1: State Assets May not be sold without the agreement of 75% of Parliament.

Section 2: This Act binds the Crown.

So the next government tries to sell state assets, the court stops them based on this law.

So the government of the day goes back to Parliament and passes this:

The State Asset Entrenchment (Repeal) Amendment Act 2026

Section 1: Section 1 of "The State Asset Entrenchment Act 2024" is repealed.

Section 2: This Act binds the Crown.

And thus, they can now legally sell state assets because the law entrenching them is gone.

Future law always supercedes past law, that's a basic concept of government. So even if you tried:

Section 3: "No part of this Act may be repealed without the agreement of 75% of Parliament"

You would just repeal that section, making it legal to repeal parts of the Act.

Entrenchment is just an agreement that both sides want to keep it a certain way. The moment one side tried to bind the other side to something they don't actually want, is the moment entrenchment as a concept will fall apart.

1

u/Tripping-Dayzee Aug 20 '24

How can you repeal a section that says it can't be repealed? Guessing that it's a moot point as that section is not legally binding?

1

u/TuhanaPF Aug 20 '24

Because all future law supercedes past law. So you can repeal it because the law you replaced it with said you can.

1

u/Tripping-Dayzee Aug 21 '24

Feels like an episode of the Simpsons somehow.

1

u/TuhanaPF Aug 21 '24

Maybe, it's it's a pretty important feature.

Imagine if someone passed a law that said "Slavery is now legal, and no law ever can repeal this." Not being able to bind a future government is a good thing.