Marama Davidson’s bill to introduce a comprehensive Right to Repair for consumer products has progressed to Select Committee, and now we need you to have your say.

Why does this matter?

Every year, New Zealanders throw away more than 20kg of e-waste per person. That’s 100,000 tonnes going to landfill. Not only are faulty and short-lived appliances heading straight to our growing landfills, but New Zealanders have to pay the price when we’re forced to shell out for brand-new replacement products.

Marama Davidson’s Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill will help turn this around. This Bill has already passed first reading, with support from Labour, Te Pāti Māori, and New Zealand First, and now is your opportunity to submit on the Bill to show your support to make this law.

This Bill will require manufacturers such as Apple and LG to provide spare parts, repair information, manuals, and diagnostic software so that consumers and independent repairers can repair products, instead of sending them to landfill. Manufacturers won’t be allowed to require consumers to use the manufacturer’s repairer or their parts in product warranties.

The Bill also strengthens obligations on suppliers to honour a consumer’s request to have their product repaired, rather than automatically replacing it.

It’s exciting that there is cross-partisan support for these reforms, but we know that this Bill could be strengthened to help more people get their items repaired and save money.

Complete a submission to help us strengthen this Bill and show support for this across the motu.

How do I submit?

Go to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Committee submission page at through the button below.

Fill in your details and choose whether or not you would like to make an oral submission. If you are particularly interested in this bill and have special knowledge, oral submissions are a great way to make your point to the committee.

The form asks you to make comments and recommendations for the bill.

Under comments, tell the Select Committee why you SUPPORT the Consumer Guarantees (Right to Repair) Amendment Bill by Thursday 03 April 2025. You could say, for example:

• Too many appliances and products are ending up in landfill when they could be fixed up or repaired. Requiring suppliers to make parts and information available for repairs will help reduce waste.
• It costs New Zealanders heaps of money to have to purchase brand-new replacement products, or to be restricted to using proprietary manufacturer repair agents. New Zealanders will save money by being able to repair the things they already own or to pay an affordable and local independent repairer.
• I welcome the increased job opportunities for handy Kiwis in a growing repair industry.
• It’s great that the Bill would implement a comprehensive right to repair, that covers all products purchased by consumers. I support the right to repair being available for as many products as possible.

You could also share an experience that you had with a product that you had to throw away because it couldn’t be repaired, or an experience where the manufacturer charged you an expensive price to get your item repaired.

Under recommendations, you could use these ideas to help you:

Include equipment purchased for business use, such as tractors

• Farmers and small businesses often face significant hurdles to get their machinery quickly and easily fixed, thanks to restrictive sale terms. Unfortunately, because they are not household consumers, they’re not currently covered by this Bill.
• New Zealand farmers often face excessive costs and long waits to get their tractors repaired because they are locked in to only use the manufacturer’s repair agent and their proprietary diagnostic tools.
• There should be similar requirements for repair information and diagnostic software to be provided to commercial customers, not just household consumers.
• In Colorado, manufacturers of agricultural equipment are obligated to provide documentation, parts, and software to any owner of their equipment, or to an independent repairer. This Bill should be extended to include similar requirements.

Give consumers transparency with repairability labelling

• Just like energy star ratings tell you how energy efficient a product is to use, consumers deserve to know how easy it would be to repair a product before we buy it.
• Right now, information on how easy is to repair a product or how long a product is expected to last is hard to find and compare.
• A repairability label would give a product a score based on how easy it is to disassemble a product, how durable the product is, and the cost of spare parts – and that score would be displayed on the box.
• The Bill should require the Government to introduce a product repairability scheme to give consumers upfront repairability information.

Allow easier sharing of repair information amongst repairers

• It’s important to strike the right balance between protecting the interests of copyright holders, and the interests of consumers and independent repairers trying to fix broken products.
• Repairers should enjoy a fair-use copyright exemption so that repairers can share and copy repair information, such as manuals and documentation, for the purposes of repairing products.
• This would give repairers greater certainty that they can use, share, and obtain repair information to get products safely fixed and to save them from landfill.

What would this Bill mean for me?

Here’s some examples from the Right to Repair Aotearoa Coalition:

You could get spare parts for your laptop

The Bill would require manufacturers to take reasonable action to ensure a supply of parts and the availability of repair facilities, for a reasonable amount of time.

Scenario: The hinge on your laptop fails after three years of normal use, so its screen won’t stay open.

The status quo: The whole laptop is junk, as the part you need to fix it isn’t available.

The Bill: The manufacturer makes the hinge part available, so this common fault becomes easy to fix and your laptop lives on.

You can diagnose and fix a fault on your washing machine

The Bill would require manufacturers to provide consumers with information, software and tools for diagnosing, maintaining and repairing goods. They must not make repair too expensive – digital information would have to be free and all other charges reasonable.

Scenario: Your washing machine stops and displays an “E16” error code on its control panel.

The status quo: You have no idea what the code means. You call in the manufacturer’s repairer, who diagnoses it as a blocked drain filter and clears it – at your expense.

The Bill: The manufacturer makes error codes freely available to you. With this information, you immediately diagnose the fault as a blocked drain. The manufacturer info also tells you how to remove the drain filter and clean it out. No repair is needed – you’ve saved a call-out charge and your washing machine!

You can have your car repaired at a local garage without voiding your warranty

The Bill would prevent a manufacturer voiding the product’s warranty just because repairs weren’t carried out by their repairer using their parts. You would also be able to request repair to be completed in a reasonable time. If the supplier did not comply, you would be able to have the item repaired and obtain the costs.

Scenario: Your car occasionally loses power while driving normally. It’s still within warranty, so you take it back to the dealer to get it fixed.

The status quo: After keeping the car for three weeks, the dealer says they can’t replicate or fix the problem. They return your car, but soon enough the fault reappears. You want your local independent mechanic to take a look, but you would risk voiding the manufacturer’s warranty.

The Bill: You don’t have to use the authorised dealer. You can take your car to an independent repairer, and you can claim the repair cost back from the manufacturer. The manufacturer still has to honour the warranty if your car develops further faults.

The manufacturer repairs your newly-bought food blender, rather than replacing it

The Bill would close a sneaky loophole in the Consumer Guarantees Act by preventing a supplier from opting out of offering repair before the goods are sold.

Scenario: You bought a food blender with a “Replacement Warranty” that stated no repair facilities are available. Within the warranty period, it starts to leak through the base of the jug.

The status quo: The “Replacement Warranty” means the manufacturer has opted out of repair. You get a brand-new blender, but your old one is likely to end up in landfill.

The Bill: You have the right to have the blender repaired instead of being replaced. The manufacturer provides a replacement part and your blender doesn’t end up as waste.