Legislation Tracker

The Legislation Tracker is a document updated once a month. It records the known and anticipated future legislation with some direct impact on the local government sector. 

Legislation is classified into three categories: 

• in the final stages of the Parliamentary process (red) – the Bill has passed the point where public submissions or other action can influence the final design of legislation (i.e. we define this point as having been reached when the Bill is reported from the Select Committee. It is unusual for Parliament to accept an amendment in the Committee of the House stage that is not promoted by the Government) 
• live for submissions (white) – legislation is on the Parliamentary Order paper and is either open for submission or awaits a referral to the Select Committee 
• upcoming (green) – legislation has been signalled in coalition agreements or Ministerial statements, etc. In noted instances, some items may be speculative based on staff assessment of what would be required to give effect to a policy commitment. 

As of 25 September there are 20 Bills in the tracker. 

Parliament rose for the 2026 General election on 24 September. This edition of the tracker records what stage each piece of legislation in the Parliamentary process had reached at the time Parliament rose. 

Four bills have been added to the tracker this month:

• the Local Government (Rate-capping) Amendment Bill
• the References to te Tiriti of Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Strength of Legislative Obligations) Amendment Bill
• the References to te Tiriti of Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Standardisation) Amendment Bill
• the References to te Tiriti of Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi (Repeals) Amendment Bill.

Six bills have left the tracker this month:

• the Emergency Management Bill (received royal assent on 3 September)
• the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill (received royal assent on 18 September)
• the Public Works Act Amendment Bill (completed the Parliamentary process on 15 September)
• the Building (Earthquake Prone Buildings) Amendment Bill (completed the Parliamentary process on 15 September)
• the Planning Bill (completed the Parliamentary process on 22 September)
• the Natural Environment Bill (received royal assent on 22 September),

Bills that have completed the Parliamentary process are not law until they receive royal assent – this usually takes about a week after a Bill completes the Parliamentary process.