New Zealand loves the water — but the water keeps taking too many of us.
Parliament has quietly reopened submissions on the Lifejackets for Children and Young Persons Bill, and the reason is simple: experts keep telling MPs the bill doesn’t go far enough. What started as a rule for kids under 15 may now expand to mandatory lifejackets for everyone on small recreational boats six metres or under.
It’s a big shift, and the Transport and Infrastructure Committee wants to know whether the public is ready for it.
The bill’s sponsor, Upper Harbour MP Cameron Brewer, says reopening submissions is the right call. Changing the scope this much, he says, deserves a fresh read from the people who actually spend time on the water.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth driving the rethink:
We lose an average of 17 people a year to boating fatalities — and most of them are middle‑aged men who never expected to end up in the water. The average victim is 50. Calm day, short trip, lifejackets stowed under a seat… and then something goes wrong.
Water safety groups have been blunt: if lifejackets were worn, not stored, many of these tragedies would become survivable mishaps.
Brewer isn’t committing to a position yet, and National won’t take a caucus stance while the bill is still in committee. For now, they want to hear from the public — boating clubs, families, fishers, weekend warriors, anyone who knows how fast “she’ll be right” can turn into “we never saw him again.”
Submissions are open for six weeks and close at 11.59pm on 15 April 2026.
Kiwis can make their views known directly to the Transport and Infrastructure Committee.
This isn’t just a policy tweak. It’s a question about who we are on the water — and whether we’re finally ready to choose survival over stubbornness.
