Luxon Reveals Updated Ministerial Lineup
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced changes to the ministerial lineup, including a new Minister for the Environment and a new Associate Agriculture Minister.
But there is an opportunity to go after the Greens ‘soft vote’, he told the Blue Green conference on Great Barrier Island this month.
“By our principles of marrying good economic and environmental policies, of underpinning our policies with good science, and of moving from a polarised conversation on environmental issues to a more collaborative approach we can appeal to New Zealand’s practical, down to earth brand of environmentalism.”
He is confident the government can pull together enough support to still “progress substantive change” in the Resource Management Act, he
said.
Since the Northland by-election, securing a majority in Parliament for reform has become even more challenging, but discussions are continuing with confidence and supply partners, Smith says. He is confident of getting the support to make change.
Even before the by-election it has always been a challenge to secure a majority in Parliament to support a bill which would make changes over “difficult issues”. Those issues include sections 6 and 7 relating to protection of natural features. Changes to those sections are opposed by a number of environmental organisations.
“The first, key change is improving the plan making process. The current schedule 1 process is cumbersome, costly and is not serving New Zealand’s environment or economy well,” Smith said.
He is a strong enthusiast for the collaborative process used by the Land and Water Forum for water plans and is keen to see this approach for a wider range of resource management issues.
On that issue he said the Land and Water Forum had just been reinvigorated to go to the next stage and its chief goal will be implementing the national policy statement at regional and catchment level.
Two further commitments on freshwater will be delivered this term. The first is developing a $100 million fund to support the retirement of buffer zones around sensitive lakes and rivers. The second is meeting a requirement for all dairy cattle be to excluded from waterways from July 1, 2017.
