Government guts ministerial powers from fast-track bill

Sunday, 25 August 2024

The Government has gutted the controversial ministerial powers from the fast-track legislation after major public outcry.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced the proposed changes to the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill on Sunday afternoon, after signalling for months there may be tweaks to its most controversial aspects.

The ministers also published some high-level detail of the 384 projects that have already applied for the fast-track scheme: the most being urban development, infrastructure, and renewable energy ‒ and 21 mining projects.

“We said we were always open to see some changes as part of legislation … We’ve listened to the concerns of submitters,” Bishop said, at a press conference.

“Essentially, it's simpler and makes it less legally complex.

“What we're trying to do is get the sweet spot right between clear direction from ministers and from the Government that we want development, we want mining, we want renewables, we want housing, we want infrastructure, but allowing the final say on that to be done by the expert panel.”

Jones - who has been an ardent proponent for the ministerial powers - said there was a difference between the campaign politician and a member of the Cabinet. He was taking the approach that “all’s well, that ends well”.

“It’s important to note that the vast majority of these projects were not mining, so these hysterical hobbits who thought to deride me, and denigrate the bill as if it was a fast-track proven for mining, have proven inaccurate.”

The fast-track approvals bill, first announced by the Government in March, has been highly-contentious, sparking protest marches in the major cities in opposition of its planned use to override planning and environment laws to sign-off regionally and nationally significant such as roads, energy projects, possibly mines.

The Government had designed the law, a so-called “one-stop shop” for projects that was a condition of the National-NZ First coalition agreement, to maximise ministerial power.

Three ministers ‒ Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop, Transport Minister Simeon Brown, and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones ‒ would be given authority to green-light projects after a panel of government-appointed experts reviewed and set any conditions deemed necessary. The ministers could also disagree with the panel’s safeguards and give the project the go-ahead.

But, after the changes proposed on Sunday, the only minister to refer projects to the expert panel would be Bishop, and he would be required to consult the environment minister and any others who were relevant to the project.

Cabinet ministers will not have final sign-off, either. Instead, the government-appointed expert panel would sign off the projects - as occurred in a prior fast-track scheme run by the Labour Government.

Jones said the Government’s new regime was different from the prior as it remained the “one-stop shop”.

The panel will also have an environmental expert on it when needed, and an iwi authority member or te ao Māori expert when required.

“We have collectively looked at the submissions, we have looked at the public commentary about the bill, and we think these are sensible changes designed to make the regime better,” Bishop said.

“But the point is this, by the end of the year, there will be a one-stop shop, fast track regime in place that makes it a lot easier to build houses, to develop mines, to build infrastructure that New Zealand needs.”

Two categories of fast-track projects have been built into the legislation, and remain. The first is a list of projects determined by a fast-track advisory panel, whose work has already begun, which would go straight to the expert panel before being referred back to the ministers for sign-off.

The second is a list of projects that apply directly to the minister, who decides which goes on to the expert panel.

Of the 384 projects that have applied to the fast-track advisory group, according to the detail published by the Government on Sunday, 152 were urban development projects, 92 were infrastructure, 71 were renewable energy, 29 primary industry, 21 mining, and 19 quarrying and other extraction.

The most applications were in Auckland, at 53, Waikato, at 55, and Canterbury, at 61. Northland, at 33, Tauranga, at 25, and Otago, at 28, were the regions also with a greater number of applications lodged.

The proposed changes to the bill will go to the Environment Select Committee, which has been considering the bill since March and was due to report back in October.

There have been extensive hearings of public submissions and an even greater number of written submissions filed - the Parliament website has published more than 18900 - not all in opposition to the bill.

Energy and mining firms, infrastructure organisations are among supporters of the premise of the bill. Though even some supporters - and parliament’s environment commissioner - have recommended changes so it could endure beyond this Government, such as having the expert panel sign-off the projects, and limiting it to projects of significant public benefits such as roads.

But opponents, including environmental organisations, have labelled the bill an anti-democratic threat to New Zealand’s nature, and a corruption risk.

Laws the fast-track bill would bypass

• Resource consents, notices of requirement, certificates of compliance under the Resource Management Act 1991.

• The need for Department of Conservation concessions under the Conservation Act 1987, and concessions and permissions under the Reserves Act 1977.

• Anything otherwise prohibited under the Wildlife Act 1953.

• The archaeological provisions of the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act 2014.

• Marine consents under the Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf (Environmental Effects) Act 2012.

• Land access under the Crown Minerals Act 1991.

• Approval for aquaculture activity under the Fisheries Act 1996.