Editorial: Tension between environment and economic development looms over fast-track bill

The protesters at Te Komititanga Square near Britomart after they marched down Queen St from Aotea Square. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

EDITORIAL

There was a tension when thousands of people filled Queen St in protest on Saturday.

They shouted and held their placards high from Aotea Square to Auckland’s waterfront. They marched to show their opposition to the Fast-Track Approvals Bill and, in a broader sense, to advocate for environmental protection.

Ask any number of those who attended and they would support measures to protect this country’s natural beauty, for which we have become globally famous and on which we continue to trade. It is something most right-minded Kiwis would also favour.

However, in the same breath, many New Zealanders would feel reluctant to protect nature at the expense of their personal wealth or living standards.

The Government says the proposed fast-track law will speed up the consent process for major infrastructure projects. Resources Minister Shane Jones told the Herald the Resource Management Act was a key culprit, “hobbling development” and “crushing jobs”.

Many of these projects are desperately needed and have been for a long time. Major roads connecting large population centres, such as SH2 between Auckland and Tauranga, resemble more of a goat track than a state highway.

Entire regions are at times effectively cut off, crippling local economies, something our friends in Northland know all too well.

“The fast-track is as much about highways, clean energy projects, possibly even hospitals, as it is about marine farming and mining,” Jones promises.

And it is here where a tension occurs. Undoubtedly, to advance our economy there will be negative environmental consequences.

Many politicians and commentators have pointed to the likes of Norway and its world-leading electric vehicle adoption rate as an example of what a future New Zealand could look like. However, they often ignore Norway’s significant oil and gas exports.

Exploiting their natural resources has given that nation great wealth, much in the same way Australia has unashamedly dug up its riches.

We have a chance to do this right, by finding a balance between protecting our great environment and developing the country’s economy.

“We’ve got unavoidable trade-offs to make, our economic situation is dire,” Jones argues.

But as Greenpeace New Zealand chief executive Russel Norman retorts: “Expect resistance from the public of Aotearoa.”