Submissions Open On The Environment (Disestablishment Of Ministry For The Environment) Amendment Bill – Environment Committee
The Deputy Chairperson of the Environment Committee is calling for public submissions on the Environment (Disestablishment of Ministry for the Environment) Amendment Bill.
This bill is the first step in the Government’s plan to combine the functions of four government agencies into a new Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT):
- the Ministry for the Environment
- the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development
- the Ministry of Transport
- local government functions of the Department of Internal Affairs.
This bill seeks to amend the Environment Act 1986. It would disestablish the Ministry for the Environment and transfer the Ministry’s existing functions to the statutory office of the Secretary for the Environment. The Government has stated that it intends that the chief executive of the new ministry would be the Secretary for the Environment.
The Ministry for the Environment was established by the Environment Act and can only be disestablished by Parliament. The other functions to be included in the new ministry were not created through legislation and therefore do not require similar disestablishment legislation. The Government has stated its intention to disestablish these, and transfer to the proposed MCERT, by secondary legislation made under the Public Service Act 2020.
This bill relates solely to the Ministry for the Environment, and the deputy chairperson is seeking submissions that focus on the transfer of environment-related functions covered by the bill, rather than general comments on the broader machinery of government changes.
Tell the Environment Committee what you think
Make a submission on the bill by 4.30pm on Wed
