Bill brings horror and delight
New legislation giving ministers the power to fast-track major projects has been labelled “an assault on the environment” by some, with others describing the move as essential to boost New Zealand’s productivity.
The Government has announced the Fast Track Approvals Bill, which would empower three Government ministers to “fasttrack”and approve new projects in a bid to make it easier to get infrastructure built.
It had its first reading yesterday afternoon but no projects are listed in the bill because the Government says it will take advice from an expert panel about what projects should be included in the legislation.
Westpower is hoping its proposed Waitaha hydropower scheme will be included after it was declined by Environment Minister David Parker in 2019 because it would have significant impacts on the natural character, intrinsic value and people's enjoyment of the area.
Westpower chief executive Peter Armstrong said the $100 million Waitaha project, which would generate enough electricity to power about 12,000 households, should be included in the fast-track process.
“[We] have worked hard recently to increase the profile and visibility of this project to the incoming Government,” Armstrong said.
“The project is both nationally significant, as a renewable infrastructure project and locally significant on the West Coast, where it will enable future economic development along with an array of other benefits.”
He said Poutini Ngai Tahu were fully supportive of the proposal and it was an “easy win across infrastructure development, energy security, economic benefits all the while with a very low impact on the environment”.
Whitewater enthusiasts and environmental groups submitted against the proposal due to the area’s biodiversity, wilderness and recreation values.
Fewer than a dozen people have successfully paddled the Morgan Gorge, the most challenging part of the river, and no-one has traversed its entire length.
Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said the bill was “frightening” because she believed ministers Chris Bishop and Shane Jones would hold the keys to the country’s resources and have “lobbyists with fat wallets“in their ear instead of environmental experts and communities.
The bill was welcomed by Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand interim chief executive Dom Kalasih, who said it was essential to delivering a modern, fit-forpurpose roading network.
“Streamlining New Zealand’s glacial consenting processes is a great way to achieve productivity, safety, and resilience improvements for the entire country,” he said.
Mining industry association Straterra chief executive Josie Vidal said red and green tape was strangling innovation in New Zealand.
“On the West Coast, miners are waiting an average of 382 days to have their permits processed, and this is just one of the many processes they have to go through. The system is broken,” she said.
Terra Firma Mining chief executive Lincoln Smith says the company’s mining application for the West Coast Spring Creek mine is in “limbo” after being lodged in 2020.
“We have been waiting for nearly four years for the mining permit to be granted,” he said. “We are not seeking that the mine is allowed to operate under more relaxed environmental standards than consents granted through the current channels. We have every intention of making the operation world-leading in terms of environmental impact and safety.”
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said the bill would reduce some regulatory burden but urged the Government to ensure the
expert panel was properly resourced and fit for purpose.
Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Gen Toop said “this bill will unleash unimaginable environmental destruction, the likes of which New Zealand has not seen in decades.”
Employers and Manufacturers Association head of advocacy Alan McDonald said the announcement was an important first step to kick-start a longstanding infrastructure deficit including road, rail, port, airport, hospitals, schools, water and electricity networks.
Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki labelled the bill anti-nature and antidemocracy because it would override the Conservation Act, Reserves Act, and Wildlife Act, as well as the RMA and law governing the Exclusive Economic Zone.
“New Zealand already has the highest proportion of threatened species in the world, and this will put more on a fast track to extinction. This Government has essentially just declared war on nature. That has huge implications for not just our climate and environment, but also our economy.”
She said an initial list of fast-tracked developments looked likely to include open-cast coal mining on public conservation land, after Stevenson Mining unexpectedly abandoned its long-running court battle for a new mine last week. Stevenson Mining declined to comment. She believed other developments Forest & Bird had previously opposed were likely to ask to now be fast-tracked.