Resource Management (Waitaki Catchment) Amendment Bill 2003, first reading

Mr Speaker, I move that the Resource Management (Waitaki Catchment) Amendment Bill 2003 be now read a first time.

At the appropriate time I intend to move that the Bill be referred to the Local Government and Environment Select Committee for consideration with an instruction to the committee to present its final report to the House by 15 March 2004 and that the Committee have the authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting (except during questions for oral answer) and during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House, and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House, despite Standing Orders 193 and 196(1)(b) and (c).

Mr Speaker, the Bill amends the Resource Management Act 1991 to deal with significant, competing proposals seeking to use the limited water resources of the Waitaki Catchment and provides a process whereby the merits of the various applications can be considered.

Mr Speaker, as it stands, there is no regional water plan to guide the allocation of water in this catchment. In the absence of such a plan, the Resource Management Act alone cannot provide a good mechanism for determining what is the best use for the water – irrigation, hydro electricity or enhanced in-stream protection. Without this bill, and the statutory board it establishes to devise a water allocation plan for the catchment, the consent authorities would have been considering and making decisions on the large number of resource consent applications in a policy vacuum.

Mr Speaker, this bill and the processes it establishes will ensure the environmental, social, economic and cultural issues are addressed. It will also ensure that the local, regional and national issues are appropriately considered. The bill’s aim is to achieve a fair, prompt and transparent decision-making process.

Mr Speaker, this bill applies only to the Waitaki catchment. We are working at pace to address water allocation issues under the Sustainable Development Programme of Action. But it was obvious to us that the work would not be completed in time to address the pressing issues of the Waitaki Catchment.

The bill provides for the strategic allocation of water in the Waitaki catchment by setting up a two-stage process. An independent body – the Waitaki Catchment Water Allocation Board - develops a water allocation framework. The policy document prepared by this Board will then provide the basis for decisions under the second stage, when a Panel of Commissioners will make decisions on the significant applications to use water. Some applications will be processed by the councils in light of the policy framework developed by the Board.

To those who accuse the government of introducing this bill in order to promote certain projects for example, Meridian Energy’s Project Aqua – read my lips: Project Aqua, like all the applications for Waitaki water, will stand or fall on its own merits under the RMA.
For those who seek to make comparisons between this bill and the National Development Act…. with the Clyde Dam, the government at the time overrode the decision of the Planning Tribunal by legislating to ensure the dam went ahead.
That is very different from this Waitaki bill.

We do need more energy, but whether Project Aqua proceeds or not must be considered in light of its environmental, social and economic effects at local as well as national level. The objective is an improved process. The Ministry of Economic Development has commissioned work to look at our energy situation with and without Project Aqua. That information will be presented to the statutory body and available for anyone to submit to the board on.

As for membership of the statutory board and panel of commissioners, I will be calling for nominations and seeking to appoint high calibre people with the appropriate range of expertise, who can make an independent assessment.

This Bill is not about reinventing the RMA. Where the tools and processes already exist within the RMA they are used for this Bill. The RMA sets out the matters that should be included in a regional plan – for example issues, policies and rules. It also establishes principles for managing a public resource like water, by, for example, providing for individual domestic needs. Techniques such as allowing for transfer of water permits and reviewing conditions of consents are already contained in the RMA.

The public will have the opportunity to submit to the Board on the water allocation framework and to the Panel on the competing applications. The government has also put aside some funds to assist those wishing to make submissions.

I reiterate that the bill’s aim is to achieve a fair, prompt and transparent decision-making process. To facilitate that, the board's decision will be open to appeal to the High Court on points of law. Given its specific function and expertise it would be unusual for such a board to have its factual findings challenged. Decisions by the panel of commissioners will be appealable to the Environment Court. Appellants, however, will not be able to introduce new evidence at this stage.

Mr Speaker, collectively these changes to the RMA set up an enhanced process for making decision on applications for use of water in the Waitaki catchment – both current proposals and future uses. The Bill responds to circumstances in the Waitaki that require government intervention.

Mr Speaker, I commend the bill to the House.