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Wise Water Use HB urge you to submit against the Fast Track Approvals Bill NOW – submissions close next Friday 19th April.
The submission process will be very much a numbers game, so don’t get too hung up on your content – just be sure to submit and to encourage family and friends to also submit.
Wise Water Use’s Gren Christie has submitted below (i.e. to give you some ideas on content)
We have captured the main concerns with the Bill below – select those which you consider most important, and feel free to add your own thoughts.
Lastly, the website link for you to send your submission to Parliament is provided at the bottom of this page.
You can download a Word version of the template below here:
Submission template as below:
Submission: Fast-track Approvals Bill
FULL NAME
ADDRESS (this won’t be published)
EMAIL (this won’t be published)
I am totally opposed to the Fast Track Approval Bill for the reasons set out below:
Briefly introduce yourself, and your connection to the environment
Select your submission points from the list below by cut-and-pasting
Re: Threat to the environment
Shane Jones (Minister for Resources) has stated the following in Parliament: “if there’s a mining opportunity and it's impeded by a blind frog, goodbye, Freddy.” This statement shows the minister’s complete ignorance about the importance of maintaining biodiversity and a balanced ecosystem;
I support the leaders of the 10 scientific societies which conduct research on Aotearoa/New Zealand’s unique biodiversity, who in their open letter to the coalition government oppose this Bill on grounds of its detrimental effects on Aotearoa/New Zealand’s critical biodiversity and its impact on the climate crises;
A number of the projects likely to be eligible for fast-track consenting will be large-scale irrigation schemes (based on the coalition agreements’ commitments to increasing water storage). Fast-track consenting of large-scale irrigation schemes:
Will increase intensification of agricultural systems and land use, resulting in increased pollution of our already degraded waterways
Will adversely affect the health of our shared ecosystem, as well as the availability of clean, healthy drinking water
I do not agree with the intent of this Bill to prioritise property rights over environmental considerations, as premised in page 6 of the National-Act coalition agreement. This will allow the most well-resourced in society to promote whatever level of pollution works in their commercial interests;
This Bill is designed to prioritise short-term economic gain over the long-term health of our natural environment, which will adversely affect our future generations as the climate crisis worsens;
I fully support the objectives of Te Mana o te Wai which prioritises the health of our waterways and drinking water, and I strongly oppose the removal of these objectives from the fast-track consent process;
Re: Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Bill undermines Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori interests as decisions about consents can be made without considering the kaitiaki relationship of iwi and hapū to their lands, waterways and the environment.
Re: Threat to Democracy
This Bill disenfranchises the citizens of Aotearoa/New Zealand from the democratic process as they will not be consulted about projects that gain consents under the legislation;
This Bill, in disenfranchising citizens, may lead to more radical actions by some which could be politically, socially and economically destabilising;
It is undemocratic to silence public input into projects that will affect our shared spaces, including (i) conservation land, (ii) oceans, and (iii) commons (i.e. areas where the public have a right of use)
Re: Legislative Process
This Bill is being implemented too hastily, with little public discussion or media coverage. In consequence, many citizens who would have concerns remain unaware.
This government's lack of public engagement about the Bill shows a lack of respect for our democracy and law-making process.
Hastily passed legislation is generally bad legislation;
Chris Bishop (Minister for Resource Management Act Reform) has stated that the Bill has been drafted with “extensive engagement with the environmental movement”; however, an investigative journalist has been unable to locate a single environmental group that has been consulted. How can Aotearoa/New Zealander’s trust Chris Bishop to make fast-track consent decisions?
Determining fast-track consents while bypassing environmental considerations breaches the purpose of the Resource Management Act to “safeguard the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems”.
Re: Corruption
This Bill by removing current checks and balances from the decision-making process opens up our politicians to corruption; thereby undermining Aotearoa/New Zealand’s current standing as one of the least corrupt countries globally;
I do not trust these ministers to make unbiased decisions about which projects to advance, as they will favour their political donors;
Re: Power Grab
The Bill places far too much power in too few hands, with just three ministers able to:
Recommend projects for consideration;
Be involved in choosing the panelists who will make recommendations;
Challenge the panel’s recommendations;
Suggest the panel reconsiders conditions the ministers consider to be too onerous; and
Have the final say on project approvals.
The Bill concentrates too much power in three ministers who will be able to override environmental safeguards provided for in other acts including the Conservation Act, Wildlife Act and Reserves Act.
Re: Undermining of Aotearoa/New Zealand’s international obligations
The environmental degradation that will result from the fast-track consenting process will breach our international obligations to conserve biodiversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity;
Re: Economic implications
This Bill has the potential to harm our international trade as competing overseas producers will be quick to highlight the environmental shortfalls in our agricultural systems that will occur in projects which have received fast-track consenting;
Aotearoa/New Zealand’s primary production sector relies upon healthy soils and a thriving ecosystem which will come under threat where environmental considerations are ignored in favour of fast track consenting;
The current international perception of Aoteroa/New Zealand as being uncorrupted and a safe place to do business will be undermined when future governments revoke consents without compensation, as is certain to occur.
Send your submission
Click the link below:
The link opens to Parliament’s Fast-track Approvals Bill portal. Submitting is a simple 4-step process:
Select (i) whether you are submitting as an individual, and (ii) whether you want to present your submission orally to the Select Committee (we encourage this as the Select Committee need to hear from everyday Aotearoa/New Zealanders);
Enter you contact details (only your name and submission will be published on the parliamentary website);
Either (i) upload your submission (i.e. Word or PdF document) or, (ii) cut and paste your wording into the online form;
Review your details and send your submission
Thanks for your effort and congratulations on standing up for our environment!
The Wise Water Use HB team.