Last Straw

No Right Turn on the NZ National Party’s plans to gut the Resource Management Act, and take NZ back to the Muldoon years:

How would National change this? Firstly, they would amend the definition of “environment” to include only “natural and physical resources” - so existing rights to amenity values such as peace and quiet, clean air, clean water, or an unimpeded view would cease to exist, while local bodies could no longer seek to protect their social environment by considering e.g. the effects of traffic, or the effects of visual pollution from excessive advertising. Secondly, they would aim to prevent “vexatious and frivolous” objections by allowing the Environment Court to require security for costs before considering any appeal (so no appeals unless you are rich like them). Thirdly, they would replace the existing call in power with a more regularly used “priority consenting” regime, which would see decisions made by a government body rather than an independent board. There’s some other nastiness - removing the Ministerial veto over coastal permits (so effectively the crown won’t own the coast anymore in any practical sense), and establishing an “Environmental Protection Agency” as cover for purging MfE (who National doesn’t trust) - but the driving principle is to shut local communities out of decision making, and prevent anyone - unless they are rich, of course - from mounting any challenge. And the net result will be open slather for developers, and large projects foisted on local communities, just like they were under Muldoon.