Shaw James; Parker DavidHon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): Thank you Madam Chair. I just wanted to ask the Minister for the Environment a question about clause 19 Whether project helps to achieve purpose of Act". Before I asked the Minister about how Part 2 of the Resource Management Act was being reflected in the decisions of the panel; this one is more at the upfront stage when the Minister is choosing to refer something up to a panel. The second line says "the Minister may have regard to the following matters assessed at whatever level of detail the Minister considers appropriate" and then there's a whole series of things there—which are great. But I just wanted ask about the effect of the word "may" as opposed to "must"—the level of discretion that the Minister has about whether or not to pay attention to those kinds of environmental and other considerations.Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): The Minister's exercising a discretion as to whether to refer through Order in Council projects to the panel. That exercise of discretion isn't the depth of inquiry that you would expect the panel would conduct when they receive a detailed application. Indeed the level of application that will be before the Minister is a lot more superficial. None the less you can envisage it being of interest to the Minister to have a decent summary of what's being proposed and a range of factors that the Minister could take into account if the Minister thought them relevant. An example that I've previously given in the House is that if someone wanted to build a coal-fired power station I don't think I'd be putting it through this process.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Then don't. It's not on the list. Hon DAVID PARKER: No but if it was a referred project I wouldn't be putting it through this list—and the member's question is about referred projects—because I have no discretion in respect of the Schedule 2 process because they're put through by Parliament and not by the Minister and discretion.In respect of the only mandatory considerations they're set out in clause 18(2)(a) and (b) which says "The project must not include any of the following activities": an activity that's a prohibited activity under the Resource Management Act regulations made under that Act or a plan or proposed plan; an activity that would occur on land returned under a Treaty settlement where there hasn't been an agreement by the relevant landowner; and then in subclause (c) an activity that would occur in the takutai moana Act and there hasn't been agreement in writing. So those are the mandatory prohibitions but otherwise it's a matter of discretion noting that the fact that I put it through there if I was the Minister for the Environment at the time this was done doesn't mean that it would necessarily get an approval although I suspect most of them will.Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister for Climate Change): Thank you. Then a follow-up question because in clause 21(6) there's a list of Ministers who the Minister for the Environment has to consult with—either "must" or "may" consult with. So I just wanted to get a sense of given the level of information that you would expect to receive about an application for referral recognising that it's going to be thinner than the eventual actual application to the panel would the Minister—or is the construct or the effect of the legislation to then have those Ministers act as a sort of a you know safeguard or a way of sort of providing the Minister for the Environment with information that would be pertinent to those considerations that they may consider under clause 19?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): Yes those Ministers that are listed at clause 21(6) would have 10 working days to give me their views. Some will on occasions be positive; some will be negative. If you take the first one the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage in respect of an application for a motorway that was going to adversely affect some historic heritage might say "Oh I'm not sure about this." or "Please be careful that you work round this with conditions." Or the Minister of Housing might come back and say "Yeah this is great. We need more houses. Push this one through." So they would give their opinions to me and I take their opinions into account but it's my decision in the end as Minister for the Environment as to whether to refer more projects."