Members of the Government Fast-Track advisory group. From left: David Tapsell (chair), David Hunt, Mark Davey, Murray Parrish, Vaughan Wilkinson, and Rosie Mercer. NZH Graphic/Richard Dale
Select Committee hearings are under way for the Government’s controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill, which will create a special consenting process for a broad range of projects including infrastructure, energy, housing and mining.
The aim is to speed up and consolidate the government decision-making processes required to build projects with “significant regional or national benefits”.
The fast-track provisions in the bill will supersede the otherwise disparate requirements for consenting and permitting under a host of laws and regulations, including: the Resource Management Act (RMA), the Wildlife Act, the Conservation Act, the New Zealand Heritage Act and the Crown Minerals Act.
The Government says the new one-stop-shop consenting regime is needed to cut long and expensive approval processes.
Good data underpins the contention that efforts to build infrastructure in New Zealand, have become increasingly mired in both cost and delay.
Work by the consultancy Sapere for the Infrastructure Commission found that the direct cost of consenting infrastructure under the RMA alone rose 70 per cent between 2014 and 2021 (there are also a myriad of indirect costs), and the time taken by authorities to make a decision rose by 50 per cent over the same period.
The Government also holds that the current disparate consenting processes insufficiently value the social good of economic growth and development against such goods as protecting and conserving the natural environment.
Critics, on the other hand, say the Government should amend or replace underlying legislation like the RMA if it wants to alter the amount of development permitted (the Government says it’s working on this, but the process is lengthy).
They also highlight the concentrated power the new fast-track plan will confer on just three decision-making Government ministers: Chris Bishop, Minister for RMA Reform, Simeon Brown, Minister of Transport, and Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Development.
The Bill doesn’t yet contain any projects for fast-track, they’ll be added later in the parliamentary process, and, consequently, will not be subject to public input and scrutiny through the select committee process (projects will also be added for fast-track consideration outside listing in the legislation).
National’s Bishop and NZ First’s Jones will decide which projects are included in the legislation for fast-tracking, and all three decision-making ministers will decide which projects are ultimately approved and on what terms (Bishop told the Herald in April ministers’ final decision-making powers may be reconsidered before the bill is enacted).
The opportunity for conflicts of interest and the need for scrupulousness, as noted by the Auditor-General in his submission to Parliament’s Environment Select Committee – is considerable.
Indeed, that committee’s chair, National MP David Macleod, was stood down recently for failing to properly declare donations to his election campaign, one of which was made by Phillip Brown, a significant shareholder in Trans-Tasman Resources – the seabed mining firm is likely seeking inclusion in the fast-track bill and the select committee has wide scope to recommend changes to the legislation.
Applications for projects to be included in the legislation closed on May 3. The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) declined to release the number of applications received; a spokesman said the ministry doesn’t know when, or if, this list will be released.
Currently assessing the projects for recommended exclusion from or inclusion in the legislation is a “group of independent experts”.
The members are: David Tapsell (chair), Rosie Mercer, Vaughan Wilkinson, David Hunt, Murray Parrish and Mark Davey. The group was approved by the Cabinet Appointment and Honours Committee in March on the recommendation of Bishop and Jones. MfE prepared a long list of potential members, including nominations from Bishop, Jones and Brown and from relevant agencies.
The group began work April 10 and its tenure is currently set to end on September 5, though it may be extended. Total payment for the group is not capped.
Tapsell’s daily rate, as chair, is $1600; the other members of the group are on $1200 per day. The rate was approved by the Minister for Public Service, Nicola Willis, and provides for a considerable increase over the typically applied Cabinet Committee Fees Framework, which sets a maximum of $1265 per day for chairs and $952 for members.
A March briefing by MfE officials said the exceptional fees were needed because of the group’s skills and expertise, and because immediate availability was required.
Tapsell, Mercer and Wilkinson all share a connection to Jones at least through the period of 2017 to 2020, during which time he was a minister in the Labour-led coalition Government.
All of the group members have deep and often broad work experience and qualifications in their respective fields, which centre on the economic and commercial.
Bishop and Jones have stressed that advisory group members are “independent”, by which they appear to mean that the group is independent of officialdom.
A spokeswoman for Jones told the Herald that the group is made up of “independent experts…as their expertise and experience collectively will be applied to their decisions independently of government.”
The group has wide-ranging commercial connections and interests, and many of the companies and entities with which individual members have a working history or association are expected to seek fast-track consideration.
A secretariat to underpin the work of the group is housed within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). A secretariat spokesperson told the Herald that group members have “declared any potential and actual conflicts of interest as part of their appointment process through the Cabinet’s Appointment and Honours Committee.”
In addition, a “conflict of interest register” has been established and “will be used to help manage any future conflicts that arise as the Advisory Group undertakes their duties.”
The listed interests, however, have been kept from the public; both MBIE (under the OIA) and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) declined to release the conflicts of interest declared by group members; the agencies cited privacy reasons.
It is important to note that the fast-track legislation anticipates that each project accepted for fast-track treatment will face consideration by an “expert panel” (this panel is distinct from the advisory group already named). Panel members will be appointed on a project-by-project basis, later in the process – the legislation stipulates representation on this panel for local authorities and relevant iwi, as well as collective expertise in areas including the Treaty of Waitangi and conservation expertise “if appropriate”.
This panel’s work will entail the considerably more technical job of recommending to ministers whether projects should be approved or declined, and what conditions should be attached – a panel convener will choose the panel, with input from ministers. The Convener, not yet appointed, must be a former Environment Court or High Court Judge according to the current draft legislation. The bill also provides for the convener to be chosen by ministers.
David Tapsell is described in the Government’s press release as a commercial lawyer, which isn’t, strictly speaking, correct. The New Zealand Law Society’s register shows that Tapsell does not have a current practising certificate (the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act defines a lawyer as someone who holds a current practising certificate as a barrister or as a barrister and solicitor).
But Tapsell does have decades of lawyering under his belt. He practised across a 26-year, Wellington-based career, including a stint as a commercial partner at Bell Gully. In 2017, he turned his focus to governance roles, directorships, and providing Treaty-related advice to corporations, iwi and Crown clients. His current posts include chief crown negotiator on a number of historical Treaty settlements and deputy chair of the Lotto board – he was appointed to the Lotto board in 2016 by then Minister of Internal Affairs, Peter Dunne, leader of the UnitedFurture Party.
Much of Tapsell’s current work is bound tightly to that of his iwi, Ngāti Whakaue (he’s also affiliated with Waikato Tainui). In February he became chairman of the Pukeroa Oruawhata Trust Board, after nearly two decades on the board. As Pukeroa Oruawhata Group finance and expenditure chair, a recent success was shepherding the iwi’s new Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa development, on the shores of Lake Rotorua, through some five years of development and construction. It opened last June.
Tapsell secured some $51.5m in Crown concessionary loans for the project, $6.5m through the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF, established in 2018) – for work on both Wai Ariki and an adjacent site – and a further $45m for Wai Ariki from the Infrastructure Reference Group (IRG, established in 2020), which was funded through the Covid-19 Response and Recovery Fund.
From 2017 to 2020, Jones was Minister for Regional Economic Development with oversight of the $3 billion PGF; he was also Minister for Infrastructure, with decision-making powers for the IRG projects (also called the shovel-ready programme), following the Cabinet’s endorsement of them.
Taspell responded to the Herald’s questions through MBIE’s secretariat for the panel. He said members of the Pukeroa board “met informally” with Shane Jones to outline their development plans for the Pukeroa lakefront precinct, including the Wai Ariki spa.
He also noted that it was not uncommon for funding applicants to meet with Jones. He said members of the Pukeroa board also met with local MPs including Tamati Coffey (Labour) and Fletcher Tabuteau (NZ First). Tabuteau was then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development and also had close involvement in the PGF.
Rosie Mercer is a civil engineer and chief executive of publicly traded Marsden Maritime Holdings (MMH), a holding company, the assets of which include both adjacent land and a 50 per cent ownership stake in Northport Ltd (at Marsden Point on the Northland east coast). The port caters mainly to the movement of forestry and agricultural commodities.
MMH, in turn, is majority-owned by the Northland Regional Council and 20 per cent owned by the Ports of Auckland.
In early April, Bishop sent a form letter to over 180 organisations to notify them of the process for seeking fast-track approval for projects. Northport received a letter and has sought fast-track treatment for its considerable “eastern development”, a wharf expansion and land reclamation project.
Through the secretariat, Mercer told the Herald she has declared her interests with Marsden Maritime Holdings Ltd as chief executive, and Marsden Cove Canal Management Ltd as director.
Mercer has also declared her interests with the Northport project. “Rosie will not view the application, or partake in discussions around the application and the Advisory Group’s recommendations,” a spokesperson said.
The group’s terms of reference state that, while members are obliged to declare any “real or potential conflict of interest”, members may participate in discussions about issues in which they have declared a conflict, “at the discretion of the Chair”.
The spokesperson said that if any projects are submitted, which are linked to the above organisations and interests, Mercer will, “follow the conflicts of interest protocol and discuss with the Secretariat and Chair of the Advisory Group.”
MMH has wide-ranging interests. The company’s last half year disclosure, for example, noted: “The new Government coalition agreements present renewed focus on infrastructure throughout New Zealand. Key Northland projects mentioned in the coalition agreements include the Marsden Wharf drydock, Marsden Rail Spur, and a focus on road projects through the Auckland Whangarei corridor.”
In addition, MMH is a founding member of the Northland Corporate Group (NCG), a consortium of large businesses in the Northland region, described as having a national reach and a shared vision of fostering economic growth in the region.
The NCG has commissioned economic consultancy NZIER to estimate the benefits of efficient and resilient state highway infrastructure linking Northland to the rest of New Zealand, the MMH update said.
The secretariat spokesperson said Mercer is expected to continue in her full-time CEO role at MMH while she serves on the advisory group (her time will be managed according to MMH policies).
Mercer is currently a director of Crown Regional Holdings, a holding company for the interests in investments – including loans and shareholdings – made by MBIE’s regional development arm, which includes the now closed PGF.
She also served on the PGF independent advisory panel (2018 to 2021), which was chosen by Jones as Minister for Regional Economic Development – the long-list included candidates recommended by Jones and his office and also by officials.
Mercer was also a member of the then Government’s 2020 IRG, which assessed proposed projects for funding and made recommendations to ministers including Jones.
Mercer told the Herald she had no direct conversations with Jones before joining either the PGF panel or the IRG review board, and she did not meet Jones until after she was appointed to the PGF panel.
Before joining MMH, she spent nine years at the Ports of Auckland. When she left in 2022 she was general manager sustainability.
A spokeswoman for Jones told the Herald that Vaughan Wilkinson and Jones are “known to each other by way of a long association through the seafood industry,” dating back to the 1980s. Others call the pair friends.
Wilkinson is a former Simunovich Fisheries Ltd executive and he is currently GM of strategy and innovation at publicly traded fishing company Sanford Ltd. The company was a recipient of one of Bishop’s fast-track form letters.
In 2019, Jones, then Infrastructure Minister and Associate Transport Minister, was among the ministers who recommended Wilkinson to the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy Working Group (the appointment was confirmed by Cabinet’s Appointments and Honours Committee). The group’s 2020 report examined issues around the future for the Port of Auckland and, among its key points, argued for the movement of freight operations from Auckland to Northport. NZ First was a strong proponent of the port move, though it did not go ahead.
Wilkinson also worked with Jones in the three-year term during which the latter held the post of roving Pacific Economic Ambassador, from May 2014 to May 2017.
He accompanied Jones on an official visit to Tonga in 2017, during which he participated as a “seafood industry and fisheries advisor”, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s current acting secretary, Sarah Corbett.
During the visit, Wilkinson promoted fishery reforms sought by New Zealand to the Tongan Minister for Fisheries, Corbett told the Herald.
She also said that Wilkinson attended “various dinners” with Jones as Pacific Ambassador during his term. The agency’s records don’t show whether or not Wilkinson attended these events as part of an official delegation, she said.
Like many on the panel, Wilkinson’s career spans many decades. As director of Simunovich he was involved in a long-running defamation claim by the company against TVNZ and the NZ Herald (the matter related to controversial reports about scampi quotas). The matter was settled in 2010, reportedly for a multi-million dollar sum paid to Simunovich.
Earlier in his career, Wilkinson held positions including oceanographer and fisheries manager at the Ministry of Fisheries.
According to a March Cabinet Paper, Parrish began his career as an advisory officer (1985 to 1990) at the then government science agency the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, in the “Environmental Coordinators Office”. His job was to identify and collate specialist environmental scientific advice from within the department and provide it to Ministers.
More recently, Parrish was regulatory manager for wood-based packaging manufacturer Oji Fibre, a Japanese multinational. He retired in 2022.
Oji bought the pulp and paper assets of Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) in 2014. Before that, Parrish was a corporate environment manager at the Graeme Hart-owned CHH Corporate, a position that covered wood processing, including: sawmilling, pulp and paper, packaging and plywood manufacturing. Prior to that, he worked as an environment manager for CHH Forests.
Parrish was a member of the Climate Change Forestry Reference Group (2016-2018), formed by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in 2016, a ministry spokesman confirmed. The group was chosen and appointed by MPI officials, the spokesman said, and its work entailed testing officials’ analysis and policy options with the forestry sector, especially related to a contemporaneous review of the then government’s Emissions Trading Scheme.
Members participated in the group in a personal capacity, not representing their organisation or company.
Parrish also served at least three terms on the governing council of industry group, the New Zealand Institute of Forestry.
For close to two decades, David Hunt’s work was conducted under the Concept Consulting Group banner, an energy sector specialist, of which he was a shareholder until 2017 and a director until March 31 this year, just before the announcement of his appointment to the Government’s fast-track panel.
The consultancy’s website-listed clients include Meridian and Transpower, both of which received form letters from Bishop about the fast-track process. Hunt no longer works for Concept.
An economist by training, Hunt’s work focusing on economic analysis reaches back to a decade working for the Treasury from 1985 to 1995, including a secondment from 1990 to 1993 as an adviser to National Party Minister of Finance Ruth Richardson. The stint included work on Richardson’s 1991 “mother of all budgets”, which slashed public spending.
Thereafter Hunt worked briefly as chief executive of Contact Energy from 2005 to 2006. He was originally seconded to Contact from the company’s then majority owner, Sydney-based Origin.
Hunt made headlines recently as one of four independent directors of Christchurch City Holdings (CCHL) whose sudden resignation last month signalled irreconcilable differences between the quartet and the corp’s Christchurch City Council owners.
The group’s resignation letter highlighted the council’s rising emphasis on near-term dividend returns from the CCHL companies, including the city’s airport, and Lyttleton Port Ltd, and the Orion electricity distribution network.
The resigning directors said they had lost confidence in the vouncil’s “ability to responsibly own core strategic infrastructure.” Hunt had been on the board for a little over a year.
Other recent governance roles include an appointment to the ACC board in 2021 by the then Labour Government. Hunt was recently made deputy chair by National Party Minister Matt Doocey.
Mark Davey currently works as the urban and spatial planning unit manager for Hamilton City Council (HCC), where he leads a team of planners and urban designers whose main job is to set the land use policy for the city.
He was also, briefly, manager of land use policy and planning for Auckland Transport, from June to December 2021. Davey also worked as growth and analytics manager for Waikato District Council, and was involved in reviewing the District Plan.
In 2014, Davey earned a PhD from the University of Auckland examining spatial planning in the Auckland region. And in October 2016 he was elected a Waitematā Local Board member (one of 21 local boards of the Auckland Council) on the fiscally conservative ticket “Auckland Future”. The grouping was linked to the National Party, and especially to then Auckland National Party MPs Nikki Kaye and Paul Goldsmith.
Davey’s term on the board was relatively brief. He resigned a year after the election, citing increasing work commitments in New Zealand and abroad.
Outside planning and local government circles, Davey’s name may be familiar because of his involvement in co-founding the 2014 start-up Confitex, a line of underwear that caters to incontinence. The Companies Register shows that he left the board and sold his shares in 2018.
Kate MacNamara is a South Island-based journalist with a focus on policy, public spending and investigations. She spent a decade at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before moving to New Zealand. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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