Smith Nick: Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Smith Nick: Resource Management and Electricity Legislation Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:627;Page:22274] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 In no area of public policy has the Labour Government made a greater hash of things than in respect of resource management. It has been a comedy of errors and blunders for 6 years for which this country is paying a high price. It is paying in terms of a 38 percent increase in traffic congestion in a city like Auckland. It is paying in terms of security of power supply. A number of officials are crossing their legs their fingers and everything else to try to keep the lights on and power prices have gone up by over 52 percent. I am not at all surprised that the Minister is running to hide. I would be too with this sort of a botch up. We have seen a lack of investment in key areas such as forestry. New Zealand should be investing in timber processing rather than in exporting logs. The environment is paying a high price as well for the fumbles and errors of the Government. 
It is quite telling that this is the last legislative act of this rotten dying Government. [ 
Interruption 
] I say to Mr Samuels that on its very first day the Labour Government said that the Resource Management Act was beautifully written beautifully crafted and did not need changing. One of the very first acts of the Government in 1999 was to reject Simon Upton’s amendment bill. Six years later a grovelling snivelling Minister is back before the Parliament saying: “Well actually we got it wrong. We’ve got to somehow patch up this RMA in the very last week of the House.” 
When the bill was introduced—the Minister’s big flagship—David Benson-Pope said that the most significant change was removing de novo hearings in the Environment Court. That is what David Benson-Pope told the Parliament and the people of New Zealand. Yet now it has suddenly gone. We have seen more flip-flops on this bill than on Bondi Beach. The Government has had to surrender ground all over the place. 
Let me give another example. The member opposite Judith Tizard said that it was “evil and dangerous” to refer things directly to the Environment Court. Well what does this bill do? 
Hon Judith Tizard 
: I did not. What absolute rubbish! 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Well she did. I ask her to check the  
Hansard 
 of November 1998 when she said in the House that Simon Upton’s proposal for projects to be able to go directly to the Environment Court was “evil and dangerous”. But now she supports it. That shows that members opposite will say absolutely anything to save their political bacon. I would like to know whether Marian Hobbs will contribute to this debate. She is the Minister who has been in charge of Labour’s botch-ups with the Resource Management Act for the last 6 years. The Government is like a beached whale. It is flailing about and has no idea what it will do to resolve the very serious issues for New Zealand in respect of the Resource Management Act. 
I go back to the issue of direct referral to the Environment Court. Labour says that National would politicise the process. Well is that not interesting? Under this bill who will decide which projects get referred directly to the Environment Court? The answer is the Minister. In other words if someone is a mate of the Government and if someone has written out some big cheques for Labour’s election campaign that person will be able to avoid the council hearing and go straight off to the Environment Court. 
Jill Pettis 
: At least it doesn’t come from Uncle Sam. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Well well is that not an interesting remark from Jill Pettis? Perhaps she would like to talk to Dover Samuels who has been getting cheques from Uncle Sam—I understand that the amount was $10000. Such diversions are not surprising. The Government’s position is so weak on these issues that it does not want to debate the real issues. 
Then the Labour Party talked about the importance of community consultation and community involvement and it introduced a 32-page Supplementary Order Paper which was tabled this morning to become law by tonight. Such is the respect that this Government has for public consultation it is prepared to make 32 pages of changes to the Resource Management Act with zero consultation. Opposition parties such as mine received this Supplementary Order Paper only this morning. I ask what sort of outrageous abuse of the lawmaking process is that. The Government has the cheek to talk about the importance of public consultation. Do not make me sick! 
I turn to what is wrong with this bill. Firstly it is quite extraordinary what this bill does not do. Everybody knows that a gravy train of indulgence has been created for Maori and iwi as a consequence of the Resource Management Act. 
 Can I give members a practical example. My local Richmond garden club wants to be able to upgrade an area of public park in my electorate. Its members are all volunteers but they have been told they have to pay a local iwi supervisor $40 an hour to ensure they do not dig up any old pipis or the like that Maori had there. What sort of outrage or lunacy is there in that respect? This Government has forked out millions of dollars in relation to the new prison at Port Waikato—paid to grease the palms of the local friendly iwi so that the prison might be built. There is example after example and what does this bill do to deal with the matter so that we might not chase the taniwha when we are trying to build a road? What does this bill do about those issues? The answer is: absolutely nothing—in fact it actually makes it worse. What this Government is proposing with regard to co-management will only make those problems with the Resource Management Act more difficult. 
Then there are issues in respect of how long it takes to make changes in a plan. What really makes mainstream New Zealanders angry with this Government over the Resource Management Act is when it messes with their sport. Eden Park in Auckland needs to be upgraded in order for New Zealand to have a chance of hosting the rugby world cup in 2012 yet this Government is handing out money to the opponents of that upgrade so that they might prevent it. With regard to the Western Springs Speedway we see that this Government is killing it off and giving money to the speedway’s opponents. National will be putting forward amendments at the Committee stage to provide for the resolution of that problem in a sensible way by empowering the Auckland City Council to make decisions for its community. I ask Dover Samuels whether he will be voting for the amendment to save the Western Springs speedway. 
Hon Dover Samuels 
: You are doing all the talking; you tell us. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Ah! You see members opposite for all the talk about trusting councils will have a real test in deciding whether to support our amendment which says that it is for councils to decide whether a notified plan will take effect at that time. I will bet that members opposite will vote for bureaucracy rather than for common sense. For all the talk we have from Labour members about empowering councils and communities those members are really into funding their narrow sector mates. 
The reality is that the Resource Management Act has turned into legislation whereby the minority is able to stop the majority. A National Government—a change of Government—will be required to inject some common sense into that Act so that we can have decent environmental standards and also so that New Zealanders can get on grow and develop.