Business snubs Budget effort to reduce red tape

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Business New Zealand is unimpressed with a $1 million plan in the Budget to tackle one of the biggest irritations for business - the Resource Management Act.

Local body councillors will get training and accreditation to sit on resource consent panels, and councils will get information and training on consulting Maori.

Money will also be put into developing online resource consent application forms.

On Thursday, Commerce Minister Paul Swain announced in tandem with the Budget the allocation of $1.05 million over two years to address issues around the act and $562,000 over two years for a new business portal website.

But Business NZ executive director Anne Knowles said she thought the $1 million would be targeted at getting more Environment Court judges to clear the backlog of cases. The amount to address the act's problems was paltry.

"There needs to be changes made to the act so it works more effectively for business," Knowles said.

She also criticised the planned internet site, which Swain hopes will be operating early next year. She did not think it would contribute to cutting business compliance costs.

It seemed to duplicate existing sites such as BIZinfo, and the Industry NZ/Trade NZ/Technology NZ portal site, www.innovation.govt.nz, which was launched only last month.

The new website and an associated freephone line will aim to offer "one-stop" information on Government business help programmes and Government regulations affecting business.

Swain said it would be delivered through the BIZinfo programme and have links to associated websites.

But Knowles said the Government was doing nothing of substance to the key legislation concerning business - the resource management, tax, accident compensation, workplace health and safety, and hazardous substances laws.

Swain rejected suggestions the money was paltry.

A lot of compliance-costs work was already being done across departments, in addition to the work announced as part of the Budget.

The Ministry of Economic Development's business compliance costs unit was also training public servants in an attempt to change the culture across Government departments.

He pointed out that the Budget funding came on top of $2 million announced months ago for more Environment Court judges.

Swain said the Government would put out a report card this year on its work responding to the 162 recommendations of a report out last July by a panel studying business compliance costs.

The Government would deliver on about 90 per cent of the panel's recommendations, he said.

On the accreditation scheme for councillors, he said Local Government New Zealand was keen on the programme and the money would help kick-start it.

The aim was to get better-quality decisions.

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