Win for our environmental law

The Green Party is today celebrating the National Government’s failure to carry out its plans to gut New Zealand’s environmental law this year.

Environment Minister Amy Adams committed to introducing in August 2013, the third stage of National’s changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA). These included removing four environmental principles at the heart of the Act in Part 2.

“New Zealanders want strong environmental rules that protect the places we love,” said Green Party environment spokesperson Eugenie Sage.

“The Minister’s proposed changes to our keystone environmental law were so severe she couldn’t get the numbers in Parliament for her legislation.

“This is great news for all the New Zealanders who have stood up and spoken out to protect our environmental law, the RMA.

“The Minister needs to spend less time attacking our environmental law and more time protecting the environment,” said Ms Sage.

The Minister’s proposals included removing four of the environmental principles in Part 2, which are part of the definition of sustainable management at the heart of the Act, inserting new provisions to emphasise private property rights and economic development; and further eroding councils’ decision making powers.

“I’ve been speaking at meetings on the RMA around the country from Kerikeri to Invercargill. There is clear public support for strengthening the RMA so we can clean up our rivers and better protect our biodiversity, not further weakening it,” said Ms Sage

“The Minister needs to listen to the 5,608 signatories of an open letter, and the 99 percent of the 13,277 submitters on the proposal who all called for the changes to be dropped.

“With more than 60% of monitored swimming sites unfit for swimming and intrusive subdivision blighting our coasts, the environment needs stronger protection not weaker law. We want the places, landscapes and neighbourhoods we love protected,” said Ms Sage.

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