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OPINION: Finally, the jackboot of State will be lifted from the throat of those trying to grow the economy.
Two new Acts - the Natural Environmental Act and the Planning Act - will replace the RMA by the end of 2025, with a bill introduced to Parliament in 2026 and passed before the next election.
According to RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Undersecretary Simon Court, the new system will be grounded in property rights and will shift the burden of proof to those who currently weaponise the RMA to block development.
Cue the wailing from Greenpeace, whose hissy fit nicely sums up the current problem - lack of respect for property rights: "The proposed reforms are based on the dangerous idea that if you own a piece of land, you should be able to do what you like with it."
OPINION: The release of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill to replace the Resource Management Act is a red-letter day for the agricultural sector, kicking to touch the single biggest handbrake on agricultural productivity and rural economies – the much-hated RMA.
OPINION: Metaphorically, the funeral arrangements are being put in place to bury one of the largest and most complex pieces of legislation – the 34-year-old Resource Management Act (RMA).
There was much theatre in the Beehive before the Government's new Resource Management Act (RMA) reform bills were introduced into Parliament last week.
One person intimately involved in the new legislation to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA) is the outgoing chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment, James Palmer, who's also worked in local government.
The most talked about, economically transformational pieces of legislation in a generation have finally begun their journey into the statute books.
Farmer interest continues to grow as a Massey University research project to determine the benefits or otherwise of the self-shedding Wiltshire sheep is underway. The project is five years in and has two more years to go. It was done mainly in the light of low wool prices and the cost of shearing. Peter Burke recently went along to the annual field day held Massey's Riverside farm in the Wairarapa.
Applications are now open for the 2026 NZI Rural Women Business Awards, set to be held at Parliament on 23 July.
Ravensdown has announced a collaboration with Kiwi icon, Footrot Flats in an effort to bring humour, heart, and connection to the forefront of the farming sector.
Forest & Bird's Kiwi Conservation Club is inviting New Zealanders of all ages to embrace the outdoors with its Summer Adventure Challenges.
Grace Su, a recent optometry graduate from the University of Auckland, is moving to Tauranga to start work in a practice where she worked while participating in the university's Rural Health Interprofessional Programme (RHIP).
Two farmers and two farming companies were recently convicted and fined a total of $108,000 for environmental offending.
OPINION: The release of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill to replace the Resource Management Act is a red-letter day…
OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to…
