Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) strongly supports the intent of the Government’s proposed reform of the resource management system but the devil will be in the detail.
“We need to study the proposed legislation carefully,” says B+LNZ Chair Kate Acland.
“The replacement for the RMA and the freshwater rules that sit under it are arguably the most important pieces of legislation for the farming sector as this framework determines the use of productive resources.
“Over time, the RMA has impacted more and more day-to-day operations on farms and become overly complex.
“We therefore strongly support the Government’s intent to make the legislation more streamlined and practical and to fix the costly plan making and consenting processes.
“While we welcome the overall intent, this is an extremely complex and highly technical piece of legislation. It will take some time to thoroughly analyse the proposed new framework and ensure it doesn’t create perverse outcomes.
“While the reduced reliance on consents is positive, most sheep and beef farmers generally don’t need consents and are currently permitted.
“We therefore need to ensure the proposed farm planning process that will replace consents does not inadvertently lead to more red tape for our farmers.
“There is still a reliance on limit setting in the new framework, and greater powers to regional councils to set eco-system health limits.
“We are keen to work with the Government on ensuring we get the guard rails right and councils can’t just pick up the plans that were put on hold under the previous system.
“Past experience of limit setting and water quality standards has shown us how problematic they can be if set wrong.
“Independent research B+LNZ commissioned on the suspended fine sediment targets in the Freshwater NPS 2020 showed they would have required the retirement of 40 per cent of sheep and beef land and still would not have achieved the limits, says Acland.
“Another key area we will be closely examining includes the potential allocation of tradeable rights to individual farms, or cap and trade systems, as a way of addressing water quality or water quantity issues.
‘While in theory this can allow the efficient allocation of resources, in practice we can’t see it working for diffuse contaminants.
“It has also led to perverse outcomes for water allocation, such as the Murray Darling in Australia, where a small number of growers hold a significant amount of the water.
“More generally, there’s still significant uncertainty around decision-making, with local government reform underway and no detail around the freshwater policies that will sit beneath the overarching legislation. We’ll be seeking more detail on these points and working to ensure there is adequate rural representation in decision-making.”
Acland says the timing of the consultation process over the holiday period will be challenging.
“However, this legislation is a high priority for us and we will be working hard on analysing it further, talking to our farmers and providing a response to the Government.”
ENDS
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