There appears to be little interest in New Zealand for the sort of interest group regulation in other Western Democracies. Figures from Statistics New Zealand give some indication of the size of the broader interest group universe in NZ, even if many of these are not actively engaged with the public sector.
A 2005 report on the number and employment counts of non-profit institutions in NZ found a total of 97,000 non-profit groups. Of these 2500 were classified as Law, advocacy and politics’ and 3,130 were classified as ‘Business and professional associations, unions’ (Statistics NZ 2005). These numbers do not include the professional lobbying companies such as Law Firms and Public Relations Firms, which are often the initial interest of regulators overseas.
