I wrote the submission by the New Zealand Initiative on the exposure draft of the government’s Natural and Built Environments bill, or “NBA.” This is the first of three bills that will replace the Resource Management Act. We do not have undiluted praise for the bill. I will post more on it soon.
For now, here is our conclusion:
The proposed arbitrary and potentially all-encompassing powers to be conferred on executive government are draconian, unconstitutional and utterly unjustified as a response to any identified problem to do with land use. The NBA proposes to give the current and future Ministers for the Environment the power to regulate everything – every aspect of how we live, work and play. The Natural and Built Environments Bill is unconscionable in a democracy
Read the submission here.
Great Society 