The National Party's
flagship policy to change the Resource Management Act could be sinking
after the Maori Party and United Future pulled their support for it.
In
a joint statement released today, the two support parties have decided
they "cannot support" the Government's latest proposed changes to the
Act. They have written to Environment Minister Amy Adams to outline
their concerns, saying they cannot vote for it in its current form.
Without the support of the parties, the Government will not have enough votes for the legislation to pass.
But
Prime Minister John Key is remaining relatively upbeat about the
opposition and says more discussions will be needed to gain their
support.
The current Act requires environmental
impacts to be considered above and before any economic imperatives
before an application is granted. The proposed reforms join the
environmental and economic impacts into one section, which United Future
and the Maori Party say will water down the Act's focus on protecting
the environment.
The parties' leaders say the changes do more than rejig the Act to make consent procedures more efficient.
They
say removing the emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the quality of
the environment "put[s] a spanner in the works of the legal system that
will take years of litigation to fix up".
"I'm
concerned about proposed nature of those changes. I want to see the
hierarchy preserved so there's a clear pattern against which decisions
have to be made. At the moment the risk is that they'll all get blurred
into one," Mr Dunne says.
"The Resource
Management Act was designed to ensure that our use of natural resources
is sustainable. Changes to part two, which enshrine the driving
principles, undermine the whole purpose of the Act," Ms Turia says.
Mr
Dunne, who was involved in drafting the original RMA, does not believe
commercial interests should be placed above the environmental principles
of the Act.
Since it was passed more than 20 years ago, the environment is in a worse state in nearly every measure possible, he says.
"The Government's proposed changes to facilitate development will make matters worse."
While
there could be improvements made to tidy up the process issues in the
legislation, changes to part two of the Act will "create a level of
uncertainty which will be counter-productive", he says.
Bill in early stages – Key
Mr
Key says the legislation is still in an embryonic stage and has not
been drafted yet. More discussion will be needed with both parties to
gain their support.
"That's in the nature of
being a minority government. You do have to make compromises and talk to
other political parties and we'll be continuing to do that.
"We've got a pretty good
history of working things out in the end and after a bit of give and
take we tend to get support and can build a majority so we'll have to
work on that now."
He does not believe the reforms put economics over environment.
But
the clauses in the current bill which the parties oppose is holding
back the supply of land and making house prices less affordable, he
says.
"We are acutely aware of our environmental
responsibilities and of course we're trying to balance that up with our
economic opportunities."
'Drop the bill' - Opposition
Fish
& Game has congratulated the parties' on their stance on the
changes, saying the announcement is a "win for Kiwi values".
Chief
executive Bryce Johnson says it shows "in the clearest terms that the
proposed amendments were too extreme and skewed the balance too far in
favour of development and resource exploitation at the expense of the
environment".
The organisation is concerned the proposed changes are a Trojan horse to meddle with the fundamental principles of the Act.
Meanwhile Labour and the Green Party believe the Government needs to scrap the changes altogether.
Greens
environment spokeswoman Eugenie Sage says National has tried to con the
public into accepting changes that undermine environmental law.
"National’s
proposed changes will cause confusion and undermine existing case law.
Its RMA changes are all about quick decisions, not sound and lasting
answers.
"[Their] approach to the environment is recklessly short-sighted. Our economy depends on the environment," she says.
Labour's
environment spokesperson Maryan Street says the reforms do nothing to
encourage preservation and protection of the environment.
The party will repeal any legislation the Government passes which weakens safeguards for the environment, she says.
Sir
Geoffrey Palmer QC, who prepared a report into the effect of the
changes, says changes to Part 2 will "significantly and seriously
undermine environmental protection under the RMA".
The
changes are mostly unnecessary and will lead to greater uncertainty and
cost in the application and interpretation of the Act, he says.
United
Future and the Maori Party have previously supported other parts of
National's package of RMA reforms, helping the Resource Management
Reform Bill 2012 pass its third reading in Parliament last month.
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