John Pask

Published: February 28, 2022

Submitting To: Ministry for the Environment (MfE)

Issue for Business: Policy proposals where Ministers have made initial decisions on matters beyond the scope of the Natural and Built Environments Exposure Draft.

Action: BusinessNZ has made a submission to MfE pointing out that while BusinessNZ was supportive of the intent of many of the changes outlined in the Draft Natural and Built Environment Bill (2021), we were concerned as to how these would be implemented in practice. The Discussion Document has continued to effectively kick for touch in respect to Freshwater Allocation. It just says that “The Government has committed to working to achieve efficient and fair allocation of freshwater resources having regard to all interests, including Māori and existing and potential new users” (page 16). This is a cop-out: resource allocation issues, including dealing with over-allocation etc, need to be addressed. The distinct danger is that if account is not taken of such factors, government will be able to ride rough-shod over existing rights. If it does so, the effect on investment will be chilling.

Outcome: Awaiting Govt decisions