Parker DavidCOVID-19 RECOVERY (FAST-TRACK CONSENTING) BILLSecond ReadingHon DAVID PARKER (Minister for the Environment): I move That the COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Bill be now read a second time.Firstly I want to thank the Environment Committee for its consideration of the 946 submissions made on the bill and for their cooperation with the request of this House to do this through a truncated period. I'm aware that they worked very long hours including over the weekend and I thank them for reporting an improved bill back to the House—or an altered bill back to the House.The COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-track Consenting) Bill is a direct response to the effects of COVID-19 on the economy and employment in New Zealand. The bill seeks to establish a new fast-track resource consenting and designation process for infrastructure and development projects that can employ people. The bill speeds up processes while retaining environmental protections and respecting Treaty interests including Treaty settlements. Accelerating projects nationwide will help restore economic growth and provide job opportunities for people who have lost their work. It would also help address New Zealand's infrastructure deficit thereby improving long-term productivity.The projects chosen will overall support the transition to a low-emissions economy and improve resilience to climate change. The bill lists 12 named projects that will progress first and have a high certainty of being approved. These include water storage housing cycleway rail upgrade and roading projects. These are located across the country from Kaikohe to Queenstown. Projects listed specifically in the legislation will be referred directly by Parliament to the expert consenting panel for decisions and to set any conditions.The committee has added another project to the list: the Queenstown arterials project. I welcome this addition as it will provide crucial jobs in a region hard hit by the economic effects of COVID-19 and indeed it's a project that's best carried out when Queenstown is not as busy as it normally is. The project involves upgrading Queenstown's transport network to improve roads cycleways and walkways and help ease traffic gridlock. The Queenstown Lakes District Council note the project is expected to directly create up to 450 jobs over the two-year construction period with up to 650 other jobs being created in support of the project indirectly through local economy services which will be supported by the project.With the addition of the Queenstown project there are now 12 substantive projects listed in the bill and these will create an estimated 1700 jobs. And this is just a start because in addition to the projects listed in the bill additional projects are added through a second pathway which allows many other projects both public and private to be submitted to the Minister for the Environment to enter the fast-track process. If the Minister agrees that a project should proceed to a panel then by Order in Council the project is referred to an expert panel. That panel will consider consents and designations for projects taking into account similar matters as would be considered under the Resource Management Act (RMA).Expert consenting panels will be appointed by a sitting or retired Environment Court judge appointed as the panel convenor. That's likely to be Laurie Newhook soon to retire from his role as principal Environment Court judge. Panels will have the expertise to enable the panel to consider the projects referred to them and to determine resource consents as well as designations. These panels of three to four people will be led by an Environment Court judge or similarly qualified person and will include members nominated by the relevant local authorities and iwi authorities. The committee has made a useful clarification that if no nominations are received the panel convenor must appoint a person with the appropriate skills and experience to be a member of the panel.Despite the need to fast track projects to support economic recovery it's essential to ensure environmental outcomes will not be sacrificed at the expense of speed. So Part 2 of the RMA still applies to these projects including to its central purpose to promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources. In response to submissions the committee has also strengthened the role of Part 2 of the RMA during a panel's consideration of projects. Treaty of Waitangi principles continue to apply and the effect of Treaty settlements are also protected. I'll detail those protections in more detail in my third reading speech.Besides the fast-track consenting processes for listed and referred projects the bill also enables some smaller-scale work on infrastructure to be carried out as permitted activities without the need for a resource consent. To begin with these will be works on their existing infrastructure by KiwiRail and the New Zealand Transport Agency. Kāinga Ora the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development or any local authority may also access these provisions if conferred through an Order in Council. The committee has made a number of changes to improve the workability of this part of the bill and to uphold environmental protections including ensuring that an activity is not permitted if it would be contrary to a water conservation order.The bill will self-repeal in two years by which time the Government will be implementing its more comprehensive reform of the RMA drawing on a report which is expected to be released soon.As stated earlier extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. This is a bill of that vein. It's a direct response to help restore the economy and help create jobs sooner which I think everyone in this House agrees with. In summary this bill seeks to make processes faster but not to change in any substantial way either the environmental test or relevant Treaty provisions under the RMA or Treaty settlements. I commend the bill to the House.