RMA expected to pass before the election, environment minister says

Thursday, 23 July 2026

Farmers are hanging their hats on the fact the Government’s reformed Resource Management Act will end decades of planning pain ‒ and are hoping it is passed just ahead of the November general election.

Environment Minister Nicola Grigg said at a farming conference on Wednesday that the environment select committee had reported back on the replacement Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill and would go to their second reading in Parliament.

“But the whole premise of our drive and turning that 900-page document on its head and starting it from scratch was to give certainty to planning and resource use in this country.

“I would argue that over the 30 years of its lifetime, the RMA has neither advanced our economy or protected our environment. So we've had to start it again,” she told the Animal Plant Health NZ annual conference in Wellington.

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The new act would allow the primary sector to benefit from a “clear focus on real effects, rather than being regulated for things that may or may not happen”, she said.

It would also introduce consistent national rules and directions to give farmers and growers certainty and confidence to invest in their business, Grigg said.

Federated Farmers national board member Mark Hooper said it was widely acknowledged that the current resource management system was broken. “It's ineffective, and it's become highly litigious. And the consent consenting process is very expensive, time consuming and uncertain.”

The current act made for long delays in being able to progress almost anything ‒ be it rural, urban, commercial or infrastructure ‒ and a new system was needed.

“There's no doubt” that what is proposed with the new Planning Bill, which regulates land use, and the Natural Environment Bill would ultimately resolve some of the bigger issues for farming and other industries, he said.

Hooper said the new system would take into consideration environmental, social and economic consideration limits. It would also include a much more bespoke farm plan system that could take the place of consents in a lot of places.

“So, as long as that process actually functions well, and removes some of the burden that we've had with really difficult and expensive consenting processes, everyone would work towards having an operative farm plan that demonstrates how they are addressing the environmental issues that relate to their particular conditions,” Hooper said.

In response to a question from the conference floor asking what the specific changes in the RMA would prevent it from becoming another bureaucratic nightmare, Grigg said the overall intent was to make the the law clearer and it did away with the back and forth through councils and environment courts, saving the economy “billions of dollars over time“.

The new rules remove barriers for the likes of vegetable growers. They would also improve freshwater farm plans while rebalancing the freshwater policy settings.

“We are strengthening trade access, and we are accelerating the development of emissions reduction technology.”

The system would focus on real effects, so that low risk farming practice would face fewer restrictions, while high risk activities would be managed more carefully, she said.

Farmers would have clear upfront information to allow decisions to be made quickly and easily.

“The changes are very much going to see a really strong emphasis on practical and farmer-led solutions.”

The bill would advance the needs of agriculture, build the economy, and protect the environment, she said.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said his party was against the bill but he would not start a new “repeal and replace” cycle if the party was elected.

Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that Nicola Grigg said RMA reforms were unlikely to be passed before the election. This has been corrected. (Amended: July 23, 2026 at 12.34pm)