David Farrar: Fast-track changes

Chris Bishop and Shane Jones announced:

Cabinet has agreed to recommend a suite of sensible changes to the Fast-track Approvals Bill, say RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones.

The changes are:

• Projects will be referred to an expert panel by the Minister for Infrastructure alone, who will be required to consult the Minister for the Environment and other relevant portfolio Ministers as part of that referral process.
• Final decisions on projects will not sit with Ministers but with the expert panel. This is the same as the previous Labour government’s fast-track process.
• Expert panels will include expertise in environmental matters; will include an iwi authority representative only when required by Treaty settlements; and will include Māori development expertise in place of mātauranga Māori.
• Applicants will be required to include information on previous decisions by approving authorities, including previous court decisions, in their applications for the referring Minister to consider.
• Timeframes for comment at the referral and panel stages will be extended in order to give parties, including those impacted by a proposed project, more time to provide comments.

Having the expert panel, rather than Ministers, make the final decision is a welcome change. It also will significantly reduce the likelihood of judicial reviews for projects that are approved as a decision by a panel will always be much more thorough than one by Ministers.

They also released the type of projects that have applied:

• Housing and urban development projects: 40 per cent
• Infrastructure projects: 24 per cent
• Renewable energy projects:18 per cent
• Primary industries projects: 8 per cent
• Quarrying projects: 5 per cent
• Mining projects: 5 per cent

So that is around 70 renewable energy projects that want to use the fast-track process. If you are a fan of renewable energy, you should be delighted that they may be able to be consented within 12 months instead of eight years.

I think the fast-track one stop shop consenting law is arguably the most important reform the Government can do, that increases economic growth. If we want more tax revenue to fund health and education, we need a faster growing economy. Consenting costs have a huge impact on the economy – both the direct fiscal cost, but also the activity that never happens because it is too hard, Imagine what it will do to the economy if by the end of 2025, we have say 40 – 50 major housing and renewable energy projects consented.

David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.