Between the lines: Needs of the economy run second to politics

By JIM EAGLES

A tension exists between the Government's environmental and economic ambitions, which has been neatly illustrated by the outcome of the review of the Resource Management Act.

The act arguably tops the business hate-list of laws and regulations that make it hard for firms to do anything. Yet an administration that clearly wants to encourage economic development has left the legislation largely unchanged.

Why? Because the Government also wants to be seen as safeguarding the environment, and anyway, it needs the votes of the Greens, for whom this is an issue of fundamental importance. So on this occasion the needs of the economy have lost out to the demands of politics.

Unfortunately, that choice is likely to prove more negative to business than Labour, the Alliance and the Greens suspect.

Business people across the spectrum talk of increasing frustration at the delays, cost and uncertainty of getting developments, big or small, through the act.

Who, for instance, would want to share the experience of Hopper Developments? After spending 5 1/2 years and $2.5 million negotiating the $100 million Whitianga Waterways through the act, it has now been sent back to square one by a decree from the Minister of Conservation.

Why would any firm go to the trouble of trying to expand a factory, build a new warehouse or develop a processing operation when it can be held up for years by a grumpy neighbour, a jealous competitor or a small band of zealots?

Why, as Prime Minister Helen Clark was told during her visit to Japan, would an overseas firm take the risk of committing to a forestry plant in New Zealand when the outcome is so uncertain?

Much easier and safer to stay small and leave the money in the bank, or go somewhere more business-friendly.

The problems with the act are that it creates too many opportunities for objections and appeals, takes too long to negotiate and is administered inconsistently.

Former Environment Minister Simon Upton spent years working on changes carefully crafted to resolve those problems while still preserving the law's primary aims, but his amendments have been dumped.

All that is being offered to the critics are a few minor changes that could slightly shorten the timetable for applications.

But that bit of fine-tuning is likely to be considerably outweighed by a decision to give greater significance to historic heritage concerns and iwi management plans, which will inevitably place more restrictions on property owners and create even more opportunity for objections.

Perhaps most irritating of all, the select committee which heard submissions on the act has asked the Government to give the Environment Court more money so that it can clear its backlog of about 3000 cases, and it has urged the Ministry for the Environment to encourage some uniformity in the way local councils administer the act.

The committee recognised that navigating the act took too long and that the outcome was too uncertain, but it lacked the political courage to deal with the root cause.

Until that root cause is dealt with, until the act is reshaped in a way that makes using it quicker, cheaper and more reliable, it will continue to be a big disincentive to expanding small business operations or starting new ones - and the Government's economic ambitions will continue to suffer a self-imposed handicap.