March 18, 2024
Resource change can’t be rushed minister warned
A constitutional law expert says iwi and Māori will need to be consulted before changes are made to the rules around significant natural areas.
University of Otago professor Andrew Geddes called out Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard for telling councils they would be unwise to bother doing any work on implementing the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity because the Government intends to change the Resource Management Act within the next three years.
Professor Geddes says that would put councils in a sticky spot, because they have to follow the law as it is today.
He says national policy statements only come after extensive consultation.
“To change one of those national policy statements, to remove the obligation to identify SNAs, you’ve got to do the same sort of consultation, you’ve got to go through the same process of talking widely. Included in that consultationis a requirement to talk to iwi and it will be very interesting to see what this new Government, given their view on the treaty and so on,undertakes trhat consultation in terms of taking that obligation away,” Professor Geddes says.
The current policy statement on indigenous biodiversity was changed after protests to recognise the role Māori have as kaitiaki, especially for Māori land blocks.