Simpson ScottSCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel): With the indulgence of the House I would just like to make a passing comment on the weather events that impacted on my electorate last week and to thank the previous speaker Meka Whaitiri for her thanks. I particularly want to acknowledge the first responders the emergency personnel who were busy protecting homes property and people during a very severe weather event across the Coromandel electorate last week. What we saw were neighbours supporting neighbours communities supporting communities and this week we have the sun back out in Coromandel and a big clean-up job ahead of us.It is a pleasure for me to rise and support the second reading of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill and as the chair of the Local Government and Environment Committee what a big job the select committee did. The previous speaker acknowledged the length of time this bill had been before the select committee. That of itself was not unusual—this is a large complicated and enormously important piece of legislation. Nearly 800 submissions were received we heard from over 200 submitters and we did a lot of very detailed work on this piece of legislation.This bill in its form returned from the select committee is the most significant reform of the Resource Management Act since its inception in 1991. It is the phase two reforms that this Government has been talking about for so long and wanting to bring into the House with the cooperation of our support partners. What it means for New Zealanders is faster simpler plan-making thousands fewer consents that will be required fewer opportunities for appeals less duplication with other Acts better management of natural hazards and increased legal weighting for property rights. These are all good steps for New Zealanders.This bill has some provisions in it relating to iwi participation and it is to be remembered that iwi participation has been part of the Resource Management Act since the late 1990s when Winston Peters supported those initiatives. In those days Winston Peters used to support iwi participation and now he has changed his mind. These changes will bring about a better level of cooperation and speedy efficiency that will ensure a more effective flow of consenting and processing of applications under the Act. So there will be an area of stronger national direction: standard planning templates and definitions requirements to provide sufficient development capacity and new regulation-making powers to avoid duplication with other Acts.The new Act will provide provisions to have stock exclusion rules included. New procedural principles for timely efficient cost-effective and proportionate impacts will be in place. There will be more flexible and faster planning more effective and efficient engagement with communities less consenting bureaucracy and there will be fewer appeals to the Environment Court for certain activities particularly those activities where residential activities have already been designated as being appropriate in residential zones. It seems silly to allow for appeals in that area.To go into minute detail at this stage in this debate is not appropriate. We will have an opportunity to do that during the Committee of the whole House but this is a good piece of legislation. It has been a lot of work for the select committee. I want to thank members from across the House on the select committee who notwithstanding their different policy points of view all engaged I think in an effective way to see a good result proceed. I support the second reading of this bill.