Fixing the basics with a statutory spring clean

More than 150 outdated and obsolete laws are likely to be repealed as part of the Government’s statutory spring clean, Attorney-General Chris Bishop says.

The legislative cleanup is being run in stages led by the Parliamentary Counsel Office, alongside the Department of Internal Affairs for local Acts. To date, 152 outdated Acts have been identified for repeal. 

“Part of being a responsible Government focused on fixing the basics is making sure New Zealand’s laws are fit for purpose,” Mr Bishop says.

“New Zealand’s statute book is full of fascinating relics from another era.

“Some are historically important. Some are genuinely bizarre. And quite a few are technically still in force despite almost nobody realising they still exist.

“We’ve got layer upon layer of legislation dating back more than 150 years – a legal lasagne, if you will.”

“Roughly half of all Acts still technically in force were passed between 1840 and the 1960s, and many are now obsolete. That creates confusion, unnecessary complexity, and occasionally some very odd situations.

“One example is the Wellington Milk-Supply Act 1919, which established a council-controlled licensing regime for milk vendors in the capital, and makes it illegal to sell skim milk within the city boundaries. 

“Like the milk it regulates, this law has aged badly,” Mr Bishop says.

“The law is so old and obscure that Wellington City Council was almost dragged into court in 2021 after a lawyer, Tyrone Barugh, asked it to issue a milk licence under the Act. The Council and Mr Barugh avoided the matter going to court on the basis that they would work together to encourage the Government to repeal the Act for legal certainty.”

Other laws proposed for repeal include the Dunedin City Fish-markets and Empowering Act 1918, which allowed the Dunedin City Council to engage in the fish trade and also buy and sell sheep.

“Dunedin City Council no longer operates a fish market or trades livestock as far as I’m aware, so we can probably put this one out to pasture.

“Repealing legislation doesn’t erase history.

“These Acts remain permanently accessible on the New Zealand Legislation website as part of New Zealand’s legal and historical record.

“Many of them tell important stories about New Zealand’s past.

“An example is the Kaitangata Relief Fund Transfer Act 1892, which followed one of New Zealand’s earliest industrial disasters in 1879 when an explosion at the Kaitangata mine killed 34 miners. Public donations raised money for the widows and children of those killed, with the remaining surplus later transferred into a mining accident fund through the Act.”

Other Acts capture the history of long-standing New Zealand organisations and institutions.

The Caledonian Society Of Otago Incorporation Ordinance 1874 incorporated what became New Zealand’s oldest Scottish society, famous for organising Highland Games in Dunedin for more than 150 years before winding up in 2021.

The Joint Council of the Order of St John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society Incorporation Act 1938 formalised cooperation between the two organisations during an earlier era of New Zealand public service and emergency response.

“The point of this project isn’t to wipe away history,” Mr Bishop says.

“It’s about making New Zealand law easier to navigate and easier to understand, while preserving these stories for future generations.”

Note to editors:

Each Act identified for repeal is carefully reviewed and consulted on with relevant organisations, agencies, councils, and stakeholders. Public consultation on the 152 Acts identified for repeal is open now, and closes on 31 July 2026. Consultation on another round of Acts is planned for later in 2026. 

Following consultation, public submissions will be reviewed to confirm the Acts are suitable for repeal. The Parliamentary Counsel Office will then draft a Bill to repeal the Acts. The Bill will be introduced to Parliament and go through the full parliamentary process including select committee scrutiny. This will provide the public another opportunity to make submissions.

More information, including how to make a submission, is available on the Legislation Repeals Project page.

List of Acts identified for repeal

Local Acts 

Mairetahi Loan Conversion Act 1898 
Whangarei Drill-shed Act 1892
Thames Deep Levels Enabling Act 1906
Tauranga East Coast and Hot Lakes District Railway Company (Limited) Empowering Act 1882 
Tauranga County Empowering (Community Centres) Act 1965
Port Ahuriri-Westshore Road And Railway Act 1914
Norsewood Mechanics Institute Site Act 1878
Inglewood Technical-School Site Act 1909
Stratford County Act 1890 
Stratford County Districts Adjustment Act 1891
New Plymouth Borough Council Empowering Act 1929 
Waimate Agricultural Reserve Dairy School Act 1906
Makerua Drainage Board Loan Empowering Act 1927
Hamerton Pension Act 1891
Masterton Borough Council Staff Retiring Fund Act 1962 
Masterton Public Park Management Act 1901
Masterton Trust Lands Act 1889 
Canterbury Society of Arts Reserve Act 1889 Extension Act 1891 
Christchurch City Empowering and Special Rates Consolidation Act 1941
Christchurch City Empowering Act (No 2) 1946
Christchurch City Reclamation and Empowering Act 1964
Lincoln Road Board Empowering Act 1908
Rawhiti Domain Act 1925 
Sumner Borough Land Vesting Act 1929
Papanui Memorial Hall Enabling Act 1939
Balclutha Housing Act 1945
Balclutha Borough (Forestry) Empowering Act 1954
Oamaru Market Reserve Act 1878
Oamaru Municipal Exchange and Market Reserve Leasing Act 1911
Bruce County Empowering (Community Centres) Act 1970 
Whangarei Borough Leasing Empowering Act 1922
Costley Training Institution Act 1885
Auckland Savings-Bank Educational Special Donation Act 1906
Paeroa Water-supply Transfer Validation Act 1922
Rangitaiki Drainage Board (Surplus Land Development and Sale) Empowering Act 1976
Napier Harbour Board and Napier Borough Enabling Act 1926
Hawera Technical School Site Exchange Act 1908
Palmerston North Library Empowering Act 1927 Wellington City Sanitation Loan Empowering Act 1892
Wellington City Sanitation Loan Empowering Act 1892 
Wellington City Streets Act 1899
Wellington City Streets Act 1905
Wellington and Karori Sanitation and Water-supply Act 1912
Wellington City Betterment Act 1900
Wellington City Milk-supply Act 1919
Wellington City and Suburban Districts Ambulance Transport Service Act 1927
Wellington Free Ambulance Act 1941
Hutt Valley and Bays Metropolitan Milk Board Validation Act 1952
Petone Borough Empowering Act 1905
Wellington City Empowering Act 1889
Wellington City Empowering Act 1897
Wellington City Empowering Act 1925
Wellington City Empowering Act 1926
Wellington City Empowering Act 1928
Nelson Waterworks Extension Act 1935
Nelson City Empowering Act 1938
Timaru Mechanics' Institute Act 1877
Timaru Harbour Board Loan and Empowering Act 1966
Ashburton Water-Supply (Lagmhor Creek) Act 1928
Dunedin Technical School Site Act 1911
Cromwell Athenaeum Reserves Act 1877
Ohai Railway Board Act 1932
Riverton Borough Empowering Act 1947
Hastings Borough Loan Empowering Act 1910
Hawke's Bay County, Hastings Borough, and Havelock North Town Board Empowering Act 1929
Mount Cook Reserve Sale Act 1878
Wellington Boys' Institute Act 1891
Wellington Boys' Institute Act 1897
Masterton Public Park Extension Act 1905
Motueka Borough Council Library Act 1928
Waimate Public Library Act 1889
City of Dunedin Leasing Act 1886
City of Dunedin Leasing Powers Act 1884
Dunedin City (Suburban Water Charges) Empowering Act 1937
Dunedin City Fish-markets And Empowering Act 1918
Dunedin Garrison Hall Trustees Empowering Act 1893
Dunedin Southern Market Reserve Leasing Act 1882
Kaitangata Relief Fund Transfer Act 1892
Milton Athenaeum Endowment Act 1878
Otago Boys' and Girls' High Schools Board Empowering Act 1906
Port Chalmers Fire-Brigade Site Act 1886
Tapanui Hospital Reserve Vesting Act 1907
Waiwera School Glebe Sale Act 1877
Invercargill Cemetery Vesting Act 1905
Invercargill Waterworks Reserve Act 1887

Public Acts

Auckland Public Buildings Act 1876
Borough of Thames Tramways Act 1874
Borough of Wanganui Borrowing Act 1872
City of Dunedin Gasworks Act 1874
Napier Athenaeum and Mechanics Institute Incorporation Act 1876
Wellington City Reserves Act 1871
Campbelltown Athenaeum Act 1875
Admiralty House Act Repeal Act 1903
Annual Reporting and Audit Time Frames Extensions Legislation Act 2021
Methodist Church of Australasia in New Zealand Act 1902
Poverty Bay Land and Deeds Registration Districts Act 1896
Public Reserves Sale Act 1879
Queenstown Reserves Act 1905
Wellington and Manawatu Railway Purchase Act 1908
Wellington Corporate Land Act 1876

Private Acts

Otago and Southland Investment Company (Limited) Act 1864 
Duck's Nest Dam Act 1865
Lincoln Road Mill Dam Act 1865 
Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company’s Additional Capital and Debentures Validation Act 1886 
Stratford Electric Lighting Act 1898
Marine and Power Engineers' Institute Incorporation Act 1925
London and New Zealand Bank, Limited Act 1928
Dominion Life Assurance Office of New Zealand, Limited, Act 1931
United Wheatgrowers Act 1936
Molyneux Gold Dredging Company (Claims Amalgamation) Act 1936 
Automobile Association (Central) Act 1980
Dannevirke and District Soldiers' Institute Dissolution Act 1983
William Robinson Estate Trusts Act 1893
Charles Joseph Jury Estate Empowering Act 1919
John Duncan McGruer Estate Act 1945
Wellington City Council (Te Aro Reclamation) Act 1879
Wellington Waterworks Act 1871
Taumarunui District Services' Memorial Fund Act 1962
Whakatane Paper Mills, Limited, Water-supply Empowering Act 1936
Whakatane Board Mills Limited Water Supply Act 1961
Nelson Diocesan Trust Board Empowering Act 1937
Joint Council of the Order of St John and the New Zealand Red Cross Society Incorporation Act 1938
Georgetti Trust Estate Act 1915
Homewood Trust Act 1942
Ashburton County Council Empowering Act 1882
Auckland Hospital Board Trusts Empowering Act 1953
Bryant House Trust Board Enabling Act 1948
Mary Bryant Trust Board Enabling Act 1955
Bryant House Trust Board Enabling Act 1960
Bryant Nursery Trust Board Enabling Act 1968
Mary Bryant Trust Board Enabling Act 1975
Canterbury Jewish Cemetery Empowering Act 1943 
Cawthron Institute Trust Board Empowering Act 1949
Otago Southland Flood Relief Committee Empowering Act 1980
Saint Mary's Guild Trust Act 1956
Wills's Road Hall Act 1935

Provincial Acts

Nelson Waterworks Act 1863
Cromwell Athenaeum Ordinance 1873
Caledonian Society Of Otago Incorporation Ordinance 1874
Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1871
Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance Amendment Ordinance 1872 (O)
Invercargill Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1873 (O)
Invercargill Athenaeum Reserve Management Ordinance 1875 (O)
Arrowtown Athenaeum Ordinance 1875 (O)
Education Reserves Ordinance 1864 (O)
Education Reserves Ordinance 1865 (O)
Picton Institute Act 1864 (M)
Public Buildings Act 1875 (A)
Reserve No 168 Ordinance 1875 (C)
Reserve No 424 Ordinance 1873 (C)
Riverton Athenaeum Ordinance 1873 (O)
Riverton Athenaeum Reserves Management Ordinance 1875 (O)
Roslyn Institute Ordinance 1874 (O) ...