A lawyer for an environmental lobby group with a storied history has opined the Government’s fast-track consenting reforms hark back to 1980s New Zealand and the Muldoon era of think-big policies.
Lawyer Raewyn Peart is the author of a new book chronicling the history of the Environmental Defence Society, where she is currently policy director.
The book – Environmental Defenders: Fighting For Our Natural World – looked back at the founding of the group in 1971 and its achievements since.
It comes as the Government pushes ahead with fast-track consenting legislation, which it says aims to cut red tape and speed up essential projects.
Peart said she was “fundamentally shocked” at the new legislation, which could allow projects to be built with fewer environmental checks.
“The 70s and 80s – that whole time when the environment didn’t feature in government decision-making – I was fundamentally shocked that we seemed to be going back into that time, which I had just delved into, in some depth, to write this history.”
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has previously argued overly restrictive consenting processes have slowed down progress on infrastructure and housing projects.
“We are deliberately giving the executive central government more power to make sure we can cut through the thicket of red tape that has bedevilled infrastructure projects in New Zealand for far too long,” he previously told 1News.
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Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand On Air
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