Hon Chris Bishop
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform
Simon Court
Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the
Minister Responsible for RMA Reform

The Government has today written to the Labour and Greens parties, inviting their involvement in the process to replace the Resource Management Act with a far more liberal planning system, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court.

“Everyone agrees that the RMA is broken and in desperate need of replacement. It fails to deliver the infrastructure and development New Zealanders need, while at the same time fails to properly protect the environment,” Mr Bishop says.

“All three parties in Government campaigned on replacing the Resource Management Act with a new planning system that was much more enabling of development. We have a democratic mandate to carry out these reforms, and have made good progress so far.

“The benefits of the new planning system announced yesterday cannot be overstated.

“The starting point of enduring reform is good public policy, and the Expert Advisory Group’s report, endorsed by Cabinet, is a very good start that provides the basis for high quality new laws.

“As I indicated yesterday, I have today written to the major Opposition parties – Labour and the Greens – inviting cross-party engagement in the development of our new planning system.

“As a first step to seeing if we can work together, I have offered to provide them with a substantive briefing from officials at the Ministry for the Environment as well as Janette Campbell, the Chair of the Expert Advisory Group. This will be an opportunity to discuss the report together and answer any questions.

“Following this there will be an opportunity for discussion between parties on potential areas of mutual agreement.

“Where we see that compromise could be possible without undermining the intent of our reforms, the government will work collaboratively with the opposition to see whether a mutually agreeable position can be reached.

“The government will not be compromising on the commitments outlined in the Government’s coalition agreements and election manifestos. However, a significant amount of detail goes into reform this size, and I hope that it is in some of this detail that we can find common ground.”

Notes:

Mr Bishop and Mr Court yesterday spoke at the post-Cabinet press conference on RMA reform. The related press release, which provides information on the RMA system and details changes, can be found here: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-planning-laws-end-culture

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