Thrill Seekers Welcome: Health And Safety Reform Unlocks The Outdoors

Further changes to health and safety laws should see more Kiwis exploring their own backyard and unlock further economic gains in the great outdoors.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich says clearer expectations around health and safety responsibilities for landowners will make agreeing to recreational activity simpler.

"Landowners have been overly cautious when it comes to allowing access for fear of legal reprisal. In clarifying that health and safety is the responsibility of the organisation operating on site, the Government has made it easier for councils, farmers and Iwi to say ‘yes’ to more outdoor enterprise.

"If New Zealand wants to retain its reputation as the world’s best in adventure tourism, then we need to allow thrill seekers a place to call home while accepting that there is inherent risk in some recreational activity.

"These announced changes to health and safety laws aren’t about less responsibility - but rather setting clearer expectations around who is responsible."

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