Another Resource Management Act change passes in Parliament
RNZ / Dom Thomas
Another Resource Management Act (RMA) change has passed in Parliament, this one focused on speeding up consenting while the government works on more a permanent replacement.
The
Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill
makes a range of changes, including:
In a statement, the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop said the legislation brought in sweeping changes, removing handbrakes on New Zealanders' lives, helping drive economic growth, and laying the groundwork for job creation.
"Our full replacement for the RMA will be introduced to Parliament this year, be passed into law next year, and be in effect by 2027- but in the meantime, through this Amendment Bill, we're making it quicker and simpler to consent renewable energy, boost housing supply, and reduce red tape for the primary sector," he said.
Green MP Lan Pham in her speech on the bill said it was part of an "absolute onslaught when it comes to rushed, ill-thought out legislation" from the government, saying the bill was piecemeal and would make things more complicated for councils.
She pointed to the changes around freshwater which were introduced in an amendment on Wednesday, saying it "completely and utterly failed to protect fresh water for all Kiwis".
"This is so significant that for the first time in the Resource Management Act's (RMA) history-an Act that was set up to deliberately avoid, remedy, or mitigate environmental impacts-this bill now directly allows and permits significant adverse effects in our most degraded waterways."
The bill is expected to come into force after receiving royal assent in the coming days.
Bishop said the next phase of the Resource Management reform process would include the complete replacement of the RMA with two laws "that better reflect the importance of private property rights". It would be passed into law next year and come into effect by 2027.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Māori Health Leaders Warn Against Government Bill Stripping Treaty Rights
Ka anga atu au ki te anamata, ka titiro ki tua ki te pitomata, he ao anō kei mua i te aroaro – he reanga hou, he reanga reo! Te Pae Oranga o Ruahine o Tararua is today cautioning the Government's proposed Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill and its reduction of Māori governance in health decision-making. Te Pae Oranga Pītau Whakarei (Chief Executive) Naomi Manu MNZM says, 'While we are disappointed with the proposal to remove our direct link to Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand and the Government, we remain resolute in our focus on oranga tonutanga (lifelong wellness) for whānau in our rohe, and upholding mana motuhake (self-determination) in health decision-making.' Te Pae Oranga was established as the Mid-Central Iwi Māori Partnership Board in the 2022 Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act to represent and advocate for the health needs of the 44,000 Māori in the Manawatū, Palmerston North, Horowhenua, Tararua and Ōtaki regions. 'On behalf of the seven mana whenua in this rohe who entrusted us with their mandate, we will continue to advocate for the health needs and aspirations of whānau in this rohe, advise how the healthcare system is performing, and recommend health system design and service delivery to improve outcomes for our whānau.' Te Pae Oranga says the Bill proposes changes that undermine Te Tiriti obligations, iwi and Māori governance roles in health, and equity protections across vulnerable population groups. The proposed Bill strips key functions of the locally appointed IMPBs, removes explicit Crown responsibilities concerning Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and removes the health equity principles, which significantly weaken Crown responsibilities to marginalised populations, including Māori, disabled communities, refugees, migrants, LGBTQIA+ communities, and others. The principles guide the healthcare system to specifically work towards better outcomes for communities that historically suffer worse health outcomes, including Māori, who die an average of seven years earlier than non-Māori in New Zealand. 'We agree with the Minister of Health's focus on the healthcare system's accountability, efficiency and delivery of better outcomes for patients. Te Pae Oranga already holds proven solutions and local data to inform this work, and we invite Health Minister Simeon Brown to engage with us on how to deliver those outcomes together,' says Manu. Manu asks, 'Who is better placed to represent Māori communities than locally chosen Māori health leaders? We're still here and we will continue doing the work to improve the health system.' In April this year, Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand reported back to Te Pae Oranga results of their hauora Māori services outcome reporting and noted that: '43% of the people accessing hauora Māori healthcare services in the Mid-Central district do not identify as Māori, showing we know what works across the system.' The Government introduced the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill to Parliament on 2 July to amend the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act 2022. Parliament referred the Bill to the Health Select Committee, which will receive written submissions until 1 pm on 18 August 2025. The Committee will then report back to Parliament by 24 November 2025. The 2022 Act established the Iwi Māori Partnership Boards (IMPBs) and outlined their role in engaging with communities, assessing the state of hauora Māori, monitoring health sector performance, and working with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora to develop priorities for improving hauora Māori. About Te Pae Oranga o Ruahine o Tararua Te Pae Oranga o Ruahine o Tararua is the Iwi Māori Partnership Board established in the 2022 Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Act to listen to and advocate for the health needs of the 44,000 Māori in the Manawatū, Palmerston North, Horowhenua, Tararua and Ōtaki regions known as the Mid-Central District. Te Pae Oranga is an iwi-mandated Charitable Trust representing the seven mana whenua, mātāwaka and mana whaikaha across the Mid-Central district. Te Pae Oranga board members were appointed by the Mid-Central community after its establishment in 2022. As in the first article of Te Tiriti o Waitangi – governance over Māori affairs – Te Pae Oranga works towards better health outcomes for the Mid-Central district. About Iwi-Māori Partnership Boards IMPBs are representatives connected with and appointed by their communities because they are best placed to understand the needs of whānau, hapū and iwi in their respective regions, working to a future of pae ora (good health). IMPBs' role is to listen to the health needs and priorities of Māori communities, and work to meet these with government and the health sector.
1News
2 hours ago
- 1News
Cutting kupu Māori in books does more harm than good
Critics of the Government's decision to phase out nearly all Māori words from early reader books are describing the move as damaging. An education ministry report shows Minister Erica Stanford decided late last year to cut Māori words, except for characters' names, from any new books in the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. Some of those words include puku (stomach), ka kite (goodbye) and ka pai (good). Stanford says the decision will help children master English phonics, despite the ministry's report saying there is 'limited evidence' about the impact of using te reo and that expert opinion about the use of non-English words is 'mixed'. Dr Awanui Te Huia, associate professor at Victoria University of Wellington's Māori studies department, Te Kawa a Māui, said the ministry is "creating damage" where there is an opportunity to normalise te reo which has 'massive, positive impacts' on children's learning. ADVERTISEMENT Associate professor Dr Awanui Te Huia (Source: 1News) She said there are a lot of outdated theories around the idea that when people learn a second language it's at the expense of the first. She said the root of the issue comes from fear of what it meant to be monolingual. 'So the fear is actually stemmed from a misunderstanding by monolingual speakers about the positive impact of having more than one language, and translanguaging is a well-regarded method of teaching people how to engage in more than one language and we've seen multiple examples of how children and adults can freely go between multiple languages.' Move between languages She explains that translanguaging is the idea that speakers are able to move between languages. 'We can identify which language is appropriate for a particular context. We can also start to identify in text which language is being presented to us. So with repeated exposure, the child can actually grasp these concepts really readily. And the challenge here is that what the minister's decision is doing is that it's reducing the opportunity of our children to have this exposure, which is what they really need in order to be able to make these differentiations with the language.' She added there was no evidence to suggest that children 'in the right environment' would find it difficult to grasp the concepts. ADVERTISEMENT (Source: 1News) The minister made notes on the report including one that said: "Interestingly - I asked kura leaders if they would accept English words in te reo Māori decodable books and they said no. So it would be consistent to keep one language only in very early Year 1 decodable books, except for names." When asked if the minister had a point, Te Huia dismissed the idea that the argument is the same. 'We are talking about the exposure. Our children are exposed to English language outside of the classrooms, every day, in multiple ways, and that's just not the case in the reverse. 'So the fact that our kura are deciding not to have English text at that earlier age, that's just an example of why we need to provide our children with environments where they are able to actually have that isolated experience, because we are flooded with English outside of these confined spaces.' Tara Taylor Jorgensen, the Ministry's general manager for strategy and integration, told Breakfast in a statement that as of August, it has released 78 books as part of the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. Of these, approximately 30 books include kupu Māori. The series reflects the diverse characters and contexts of Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring that Māori students - and all learners - see themselves, their cultures, and their communities represented, Jorgensen said. ADVERTISEMENT No other titles in the series have been changed.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Golden Bay residents call for investment to future-proof emergency phone line
Tasman was hit by heavy rain last month. Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii A group of Golden Bay residents want to see government investment in the region's communications network, so residents have reliable access to the 111 line during emergencies. Project STRIM (strengthening telecommunications resilience in Mohua) was set up by a group of Golden Bay residents after damage to the fibre optic cable that runs along State Highway 60 in July, resulted in a day long outage where residents were unable to call 111. Founder Axel Downard-Wilke said it was after that outage he posted about his concerns on social media and said the community should do something to improve its resilience, which led to the group's formation. "It's really a life or death situation if you need to make a 111 call, it's no good driving to a community hub where there's a Starlink system, you need to be able to use your phone reliably so we need a backup system," Downard-Wilke said. "The other thing of course, is when the Alpine Fault goes no technician can drive their van over with all the specialist equipment that's needed to find faults and fix them." He said the group wanted to see a feasibility study done and Crown funding set aside to future-proof the communications network, as had been done on the West Coast. In 2023, the government spent $435.4 million on a connectivity package for Westland with 118km of fibre laid between Te Anau and Milford Sound to improve resilience and connectivity. At a Tasman District Council meeting on Thursday, Downard-Wilke asked the council to send letters in support of a scoping report and funding for a more resilient system to Government ministers, Chorus and Civil Defence. Golden Bay is currently serviced by a single fibre optic cable that runs between Motueka and Tākaka. During bad weather on 3 July, the fibreoptic cable at Uruwhenua Bridge on State Highway 60 was severed, knocking out connection to about 1100 households. The cable was thought to have been damaged by a slip, but it was later revealed that rats had chewed through it. Downard-Wilke said it wasn't the first time such an outage had affected the community. In September 2023, the cable was accidentally severed by contractors and in August 2022 a slip at Birds Hill took out the road connection and the fibre optic cable with it. While other parts of the country were reliant on a single fibre cable, Downard-Wilke said he thought Golden Bay was the biggest community in the country that relied on a single cable, and was vulnerable to failures. "Whoever thought that having a system with a single point of failure is a good idea. I don't know what they were thinking. "If that goes, nothing goes." A large washout across a highway during extensive flooding and heavy rain in the Nelson Tasman areas. Photo: Supplied/ Nick Smith Telecommunications Forum chief executive Paul Brislen has said the key was to have multiple different types of networks (fibre, mobile, fixed wireless connections and satellite) so there wasn't a single point of failure. He also said telecommunications network companies were doing work to ensure cities were connected by a loop, instead of a point-to-point connection, so if half the cable was knocked out, traffic could be connected via the other side of the cable. A Chorus spokesperson said a second fibre optic cable for the Tākaka and Golden Bay area was not feasible as there was only one point of entry, it would follow roughly the same route and be exposed to the same risks. It said a second cable laid on a different route would face challenges due to the geography and topography of the area and would require significant funding and considerable feasibility work. The spokesperson said Chorus was aware of several regions connected to the fibre network via a single cable, some with larger populations that Golden Bay, and that came with risks that were actively managed. "We have robust monitoring and assurance processes in place to respond swiftly to any service disruptions, particularly those caused by adverse weather or natural events." An example of some of the widespread damage to roads and infrastructure in the Nelson Tasman areas. Photo: Supplied/ Nick Smith Golden Bay Community Board deputy chair Grant Knowles said the July outage was concerning and the inability to call 111 took was a shock to many. "I think it was a surprise to people that they couldn't get hold of emergency services or the chemist, for instance, couldn't let people know that they had a prescription to pick up, it was quite a broad problem." Tākaka residents then received an emergency alert during heavy rain on July 11, warning them to expect flooding and to be prepared to evacuate and Knowles questioned how people would be informed of alerts if there was no mobile coverage. The town's population grew significantly over summer, which was often when it experienced heavy rain and slips which could knock out the cable as had happened in 2022. Knowles said the region remained vulnerable during weather events and natural disasters and there was an urgent need for a backup communications system. He hoped the government would take the community's concerns, seriously. "It needed to be there yesterday, I mean, it should never have got to this point." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
