Source: Radio New Zealand
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (R) and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The government will release its long-awaited replacement to the Resource Management Act, which the Prime Minister has described as a “game changer” for New Zealand.
Details of exactly what the replacement will look like will be revealed on Tuesday afternoon, but the government has already signalled the RMA will be replaced by two new pieces of legislation.
Both pieces of legislation will have more of a focus on private property rights.
A Planning Act will be focused on regulating the “use, development, and enjoyment” of land, while the Natural Environment Act will be focused on the use, protection, and enhancement of the natural environment.
On Monday, Christopher Luxon said the RMA was “broken” and was the “root cause” of many of New Zealand’s economic challenges.
“Everyone knows that the RMA is broken,” he said.
“It has held us back for 30 years, and it’s turned us into a country that says no far too often. With our government’s new planning system, there will be less talking and filling in forms, and more building, and more growing.”
Luxon said officials had estimated up to 46 percent of consent and permit applications required under the existing RMA could be removed under the new planning system.
Shortly after the coalition came into government it repealed Labour’s replacement of the RMA, which had only passed into law two months before the election.
The Natural and Built Environment Act and the Spatial Planning Act were instead replaced by the old RMA until the coalition could introduce its own replacement.
Despite repealing Labour’s reforms, Luxon said the government had reached out to Labour to seek bipartisanship on its own reforms.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said he had a few “informal conversations” with RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop about the legislation.
“I don’t think that this merry-go-round of constant repeal and replace, repeal and replace, repeal and replace, is sustainable,” Hipkins said.
“So if we can find ways to support large parts of what the government are doing, we will do that. If there are areas where we disagree, we’ll be clear on what those areas are. But they won’t necessarily involve a whole other cycle of repeal and replace.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
