Hughes Darren: Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Hughes Darren: Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22294] 
DARREN HUGHES (Labour—Otaki) 
: 
 I rise to support this Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill. This is a tricky area for Parliament to deal with in terms of the balance we have to strike between legitimate development and both the preservation of the conservation estate of New Zealand and the resources we have to manage and look after. I think that wherever that balance is struck there is always debate around its edges. 
But when we start talking about the Resource Management Act National goes into overdrive with its rhetoric. We have heard from Nick Smith that the Resource Management Act is stifling growth in New Zealand. That is of course despite the fact that New Zealand has a higher average growth rate than any other country in the OECD. But National members put all that to one side; facts can be a real nuisance in that regard to National. 
We have to make sure we get proper legislation that protects people’s rights to appeal and that protects the rights of local authorities to put in place responsible plans for managing their areas’ environmental assets but that also allows people to get their applications considered quickly and fairly and if they are approved on the basis of the standards agreed to allows that work to start. I think that what we have come to Parliament with today in the second reading of this bill is the latest attempt to get that balance right. 
But I say to the House that if we were to give in and agree to every concession National wanted in its pursuit to strip this country of environmental standards National would then argue that the Resource Management Act was too tight—even if we moved to that position. So wherever we strike the balance there is argument around it; that is the nature I think of resource planning. 
We have made enormous improvements in the Environment Court—in halving the time of cases there—and we have also been able to put in place a number of key changes so that local governments have the tools to be fair and consistent arbiters of consent applications. 
I think David Benson-Pope has done a great job of listening to the people who have to make this legislation work—that is our local government authorities across the country. Of course when there are 74 of those authorities there is some variance in the way the legislation is judged and that is why training is so important. But let us not throw the baby out with the bath water in our rush to have the toughest rhetoric on the Resource Management Act. It will always be a difficult area in which to come up with the right balance but I think this bill does that. 
I heard Dr Worth mention the fact that National has a timeline for a reform of the Resource Management Act. I give that about as much credibility as the much-vaunted tax cuts we have been waiting for. We were told were we not several weeks ago that tax cuts were due to be announced? Then we were told we were playing games with the election date and as soon as that was out we would know the date of the tax cuts. Now we find out that the New Zealand public has to wait until almost 3 or 4 weeks before the election for National to put on record what its members say is so important. So I have no faith in what Dr Worth was saying about a Resource Management Act process. 
Finally I want to reiterate what my colleague the Hon David Benson-Pope had to say—that although we have heard lots from National speakers about how outrageous the Resource Management Act is with all its appeal rights slowing down development what is the first piece of legislation National members all reach for whenever there is a development or idea they do not like? The Resource Management Act! 
Hon Paul Swain 
: And prisons. 
DARREN HUGHES 
: Mr Swain the Minister of Corrections mentions prisons. I am glad he has done that because I notice that Paul Hutchison the member for Waikato opposed the Spring Hill Corrections Facility. I notice that “brains trust” Phil Heatley railed against the Northland Regional Corrections Facility up in Whangarei. Bill English the former—soon to be next—leader of the National Party did not like a prison at Milton and wanted to use the Resource Management Act to oppose that and the theatrical member for Bay of Plenty Tony Ryall in doing one of his law and order routines said he wanted six to 10 more prisons everywhere with parole but as soon as one was going to be in his backyard he reached for the Resource Management Act to try to stop it. There are words for that. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: What about the member for Nelson? 
DARREN HUGHES 
: We could not expect a consistent thing to come from Nick Smith. He likes to beat his chest and say how tough on crime he is but as soon as the authorities sniffed around Nelson for a prison site he rushed out for the appeal processes of the Resource Management Act he rushed out to embrace tikanga Maori and he rushed out to make sure there were strong provisions in the Act in order to give his local people in Nelson the appeal rights he felt they needed. So it really is all a bit much! 
And I have not even had time to mention Judith Collins who sort of runs the National Party independently from the second row and operates in splendid isolation much to the chagrin of all her colleagues as she sails forth. She wants to use the Resource Management Act and all its rights on the situation of the Transpower pylons. Apparently it is quite good to have the Resource Management Act processes for that. 
When National members are talking rhetoric they say they must shut down all that Maori “nonsense” and all those appeal rights and that the Resource Management Act is a terrible terrible thing until something turns up that happens to be a campaign area of theirs—that is prisons—and then they must have a tougher Resource Management Act. National is all at sea it is not ready for this general election and I think that that is the view the New Zealand electorate will take in 6 weeks and 3 days’ time.