Govt launches Resource Management consultation
The government is billing its Resource Management consultation as the country's biggest ever change to national direction. It comes hot on the heels of the fast track changes and leading up the full RMA replacement due next year. Announcements were released under six ministers' names on everything from housing to mining to agriculture - and some of it's got environmental groups up in arms. Political reporter Russell Palmer has more.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
Why Is The New Zealand Media Not Questioning The Implications Of The Gene Technology Bill?
Press Release – Lisa Er Despite the profound ethical, environmental, and societal implications, there has been a noticeable lack of critical scrutiny from the mainstream media, says Lisa Er. As the Gene Technology Bill advances through Parliament, New Zealand faces a pivotal moment in science, agriculture, and public health. The proposed legislation would significantly relax restrictions on gene technology, enabling broader research, development, and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in New Zealand for the first time in nearly 30 years Yet, despite the profound ethical, environmental, and societal implications, there has been a noticeable lack of critical scrutiny from the mainstream media. 'It is plausible that political and economic factors are influencing the nature and depth of media coverage regarding the Gene Technology Bill,' says Lisa Er, author of a petition to 'halt the progress of the Gene Technology Bill and instead set up a Commission of Inquiry into the health and safety of people and the environment on behalf of citizens, to allow time for wider community and stakeholder consultation.' Key Concerns: Environmental Risks: The Bill paves the way for the release of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into New Zealand's unique ecosystems, risking irreversible impacts on native species, biodiversity, crops, and the country's global clean, green brand. Lack of Public Consultation: The Government has failed to meaningfully consult with Māori, scientists, and the wider public, ignoring Treaty of Waitangi obligations and indigenous rights, community concerns about food safety, cultural values, and environmental protection. Threat to Export Markets: New Zealand's primary export markets, especially in Europe and Asia, have strict GM-free requirements. The Bill endangers market access and could jeopardize billions in export earnings. Undermining Precaution: The Bill abandons the precautionary principle that has underpinned New Zealand's cautious approach to gene technology, exposing the country to unknown long-term risks. Ignoring International Best Practice: Leading nations are strengthening, not weakening, their oversight of gene technologies in response to new scientific evidence and public concern. Insufficient Public Debate: The bill has generated over 1,500 public submissions, reflecting deep divisions and strong opinions across the country. The removal of labelling GE is of considerable public concern. Why has the minimal media coverage largely focused on official statements and the potential benefits, with little attention paid to the risks, opposition viewpoints, or the broader societal debate that is unfolding in submissions and community discussions? Risk Oversight and Regulatory Gaps: the bill will open the door to unintended consequences, including ecosystem disruption, cross-contamination of crops, and unclear long-term health effects Transparency and Accountability: Some have questioned whether the bill is being rushed or if consultation has been adequate, particularly given the timing of the public submission period over the summer holidays Media outlets have an essential role in holding lawmakers accountable and ensuring transparency in the legislative process, and these risks deserve deeper journalistic investigation and public explanation. A Call to Action for the Media: We urge New Zealand's journalists and editors to fulfil their democratic duty by: – Investigating the full range of concerns about the Gene Technology Bill, including those raised in public submissions. – Highlighting the ethical, cultural, and environmental questions that remain unresolved. – Providing balanced, evidence-based coverage that empowers New Zealanders to make informed decisions about the future of gene technology in their country. 'The Gene Technology Bill represents a generational shift in New Zealand's approach to biotechnology', says Er. 'The public deserves robust, critical journalism that examines not only the promises but also the very real perils of this legislation.' Lisa Er, founder of Lisa's Hummus Issued in the public interest to encourage transparent, balanced, and investigative reporting on a matter of national importance Petition with over 4,000 signatures Petition request: That the House of Representatives halt the progress of the Gene Technology Bill and instead set up a Commission of Inquiry into the health and safety of people and the environment on behalf of citizens, to allow time for wider community and stakeholder consultation. Petition reason: I consider the Gene Technology Bill has failed to follow sound and fair processes by not consulting enough with the public and other stakeholders. I believe there is inadequate consideration of Te Tiriti obligations, and insufficient requirements to protect people and the environment from the risks of GE contamination. A range of gene editing techniques would be excluded from regulation. This would mean GE products would enter the environment and food supply untested, unregistered and unlabeled.
1News
an hour ago
- 1News
Environmentalists see forestry changes as dangerous step for Tairāwhiti
Tairāwhiti environmentalists have called changes for commercial forestry under proposed Resource Management Act reforms "a slap in the face" and a return to weaker forestry regulations. Local groups are preparing to make submissions on proposed changes to the way forestry is managed after consultation on the Resource Management Act opened on Thursday. The proposals would make it harder for councils to have their own discretion in setting stricter rules to control tree planting. Gisborne District Council said the proposed changes grant both "real opportunities" and "some challenges". The Eastland Wood Council is still considering its options around submitting. ADVERTISEMENT Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti (MTT), the group behind a 12,000-signature petition that triggered the Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use (MILU) in Tairāwhiti and Wairoa, claimed the Government was relaxing "already permissive forestry rules". The inquiry, published in May 2023, followed the destruction caused by Cyclone Gabrielle and other major storms, when woody debris, forestry slash and sedimentation flooded the region's land, waterways and infrastructure. At the time of the inquiry's findings, the previous Government announced actions to reduce the risk of a Gabrielle repeat. MTT spokeswoman and Ruatōria resident Tui Warmenhoven said, "We were promised stronger protections – what we're getting is deregulation dressed as reform". The proposed changes were "a slap in the face to the hundreds of whānau who've already paid the price for poor forestry regulations," said Warmenhoven in a group statement. Another part of the proposed changes will require a Slash Mobilisation Risk Assessment as part of all harvest management plans. It would also consider refining requirements to remove all slash above a certain size from forest cutovers. ADVERTISEMENT MTT welcomed the proposed requirement for Slash Mobilisation Risk Assessments, however, it warned "this would be ineffective without enforceable planning requirements and local oversight". "A slash assessment without an afforestation plan is meaningless – it's a partial fix that ignores the root of the problem," said Warmenhoven. "We've already seen what happens when forestry is left to regulate itself and the problems with planting shallow-rooting pine on erosion-prone slopes. We are also concerned about the removal of references to woody debris, given that whole pine plantations collapsed during Cyclone Gabrielle and still line many waterways in the region." Last September, Eastland Wood Council chairman Julian Kohn said forestry firms were "bleeding money," with many companies finding Gisborne too costly to invest in. Speaking with Local Democracy Reporting, Kohn said Eastland Wood Council was still considering whether to submit its own response or work with other council members to make submissions. "We've been working closely with the minister and advocating for what we see needs to be real change in respect of some of the causes in the NES-CF [National Environmental Standards for Commercial Forestry]," said Kohn. "Our real concern is that the way the council is treating many of these consents and these enforcement orders are literally sending these forest companies to the wall." ADVERTISEMENT He said forestry companies would close if things continued the way they were, which would leave forests unmanaged and unharvested. "Next time we have a rain event, then some of those trees which have been locked up are going to come down the waterways, which is exactly what everybody wants to try to prevent." Gisborne District Councils director of sustainable futures, Jocelyne Allen, said the consultation documents came "as no surprise" as they were broad and aligned with what the council had seen in the Cabinet paper and Expert Advisory Group report. "The packages cover infrastructure, the primary sector, freshwater, and urban growth, all areas that matter deeply to our region. "There are real opportunities here, but also some challenges, and we're taking the time to work through both carefully," Allen said. The council intends to submit a response and will be taking a strategic and collaborative approach to doing so, including engaging with tangata whenua, whānau, hapū and iwi across the region and working through its sector networks, particularly the Local Government Special Interest Groups and Te Uru Kahika, said Allen. Before the announcement of the proposed changes, in an email to Local Democracy Reporting on Monday, Primary Industries and Forestry Minister Todd McClay said forestry played an important role in the economy and provided many jobs on the East Coast. ADVERTISEMENT "The Government is working closely with the Gisborne District Council and respected members of the forestry industry, farming and iwi to manage and reduce risk through better and more practical rules rather than blanket restrictions or bans." He said they are reviewing slash management practices and will amend the NES-CF so councils can focus on the most at-risk areas, lower costs and deliver better social and environmental outcomes. "We want them to focus on high-risk areas, which is what Gisborne District Council is currently doing, rather than suggesting that there should no longer be any forestry in the Tairāwhiti region," he said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Nicolas Shaun Miller's ‘cry for help' exposes serious addiction to child exploitation material
First published on Tracy Neal , Open Justice multimedia journalist Nicolas Miller told the police after he tried to take his own life that he had a 'serious addiction to child porn' and was afraid his offending would worsen. He has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. Photo: Open Justice via New Zealand Herald / Tracy Neal Warning: This story covers topics including online child exploitation and attempted suicide that may be upsetting to some readers. A man's attempt at taking his own life opened a Pandora's Box on his addiction to child exploitation material. Now a judge has deemed the man's quick confession to the police was a cry for help but said it didn't excuse his actions. Nicolas Shaun Miller told the police after they found thousands of items of objectionable material on his computer that he had a "serious addiction" to what he called "child porn". The confession to the police came about in "unusual circumstances", Judge Jo Rielly recently said in the Nelson District Court. Crown prosecutor Daniel Baxter said it was a sad situation for all involved. Defence lawyer Mark Dollimore said in some ways, Miller's addiction had almost killed him. The 31-year-old had been living alone in a caravan in Murchison, in the southern Tasman District, in what Dollimore described as "squalid conditions". Miller said he led a "boring, monotonous life", and, when he was not working, he played video games and drank to excess. He no longer had much contact with family, he was alone and isolated, Dollimore said. He said that on 17 November last year when Miller had tried to end his life he had consumed cannabis, watched pornography and the reality of his situation and his addiction had overwhelmed him. Miller was taken to Nelson Hospital and treated for serious self-inflicted wounds. "He came very close to killing himself. It was touch and go for him in ICU," Dollimore said. Miller later said he had tried to take his own life because he knew he had a serious problem that he struggled with, but didn't know where to reach out for help. Miller believed his addiction might lead to contact offending with a child which he feared he might not be able to resist, and that he favoured a "particular type" which he himself found abhorrent, Judge Rielly said. She said Miller's effort to speak up was a cry for help, but it didn't excuse the illegal behaviour. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison on seven charges, one of which was a representative charge, of knowingly possessing an objectionable publication. It wasn't until after mental health services had assessed Miller in November that a police investigation followed and he was charged. Miller had told a mental health staff member that he had been viewing "child porn" for the previous two or three years, and the police were notified. After a search of his address, several electronic items, including a computer tower, were seized. Forensic examination of the tower suggested it contained objectionable material on about 16,000 files. A subsequent search confirmed 14,146 items as objectionable. Miller had also accessed websites that had bestiality content on them. The representative charge covered an "extensive number" of images found on a hard drive, some of which were classified as the most serious of their type. Miller told the police that he viewed the images daily because they "excited him" but he knew he had a major problem. Miller also told the police he understood that viewing child exploitation material was not a victimless crime, and that children endured "horrific atrocities" in the making of such material, fuelled by viewers such as himself. Dollimore said Miller had "fessed up" early and had co-operated with the police in every way he could, and that he was desperate for help. Baxter said it was Miller's honesty that led to his offending coming to light, and the Crown was not opposed to credit being given for Miller's request for help. Judge Rielly said that from everything Miller had said, not only was he feeling extremely low about himself, but he was also very concerned about where his addiction might lead him. Judge Rielly said Miller also knew his behaviour could change for the worse and he did not want that to happen. In setting a prison starting point at five years, Judge Rielly said although Miller's relationship with his family was now strained, he had not sought to blame anything about his background for his offending. He was given credit for his early guilty plea and for demonstrating his remorse, his shame, his insight into the offending and his readiness to rehabilitate, to arrive at a sentence of three-and-a-half years on the representative charge and two-and-a-half years on the remaining charges, to be served concurrently. Miller was automatically registered as a child sex offender. If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111. -This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
