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4. REGIONAL COUNCIL PERFORMANCE

Regional Councils are responsible for upholding and applying the RMA to protect the natural environment, including fish and game habitat.  New Zealand’s latest state of the environment report, Environment New Zealand 2007, confirms that our streams, rivers, lakes, and wetlands continue to be degraded, especially by environmentally unsustainable agricultural practices.  This has come about because those agencies with the statutory responsibility for habitat protection have not upheld the specific provisions of the RMA that impose a ‘duty’ upon those whose activities have adverse environmental effects to “avoid, remedy or mitigate” them. Regional Councils have only been formally audited by the Minister for the Environment on the processes of the RMA, but not the environmental outcomes.  Fish & Game New Zealand maintains this has contributed to the significant performance failure by Regional Councils to manage the intensification of agriculture, which continues to occur largely out of control, despite its widely acknowledged adverse environmental effects.

Question: Will your party ensure Regional Councils are publicly and nationally accountable for their habitat and general environmental protection responsibilities under the RMA.  If so, how?

Yes, we have long advocated creating greater oversight of local authorities to monitor all aspects of their performance, either through establishing and resourcing an officer of Parliament, such as the Auditor-General or PCE, or through an existing government department, such as the Ministry for the Environment, or the Department of Internal Affairs.

Yes. And, as you point out, they already are. But because they are elected representatives, often from rural areas, there is a bias in favour of agriculture and that is perfectly understandable. The balance will shift, however, and public opinion will do that. It is already beginning. Future governments will insist upon it, be they Labour or National led.

Yes, UnitedFuture believes there needs to be an overall emphasis on subsidiarity in government, meaning that local governments need to take greater responsibility for issues within their area of jurisdiction. However, it is also important that local government is accountable to central government on nationally important issues -- of which water quality and general habitat protection are two.

The lack of accountability of regional councils and the excessive devolution of powers under the RMA is part of the problem in New Zealand’s freshwater management. National is exploring the concept of an environment protection authority to provide clear direction at a national level over issues like water quality. We are not satisfied that the Ministry for the Environment, as a policy agency with only three out of 270 staff with water management expertise, is up to the job. We also propose a new Environment Reporting Act that will require five-yearly state-of-the-environment reports to be produced independently by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. This report should be specific to rivers and lakes, ranking them in terms of quality, and identifying whether they are improving or deteriorating. This transparent reporting will increase the accountability of local, regional, and national decision-makers around water quality.

The RMA has not delivered.  Building more legislation and bureaucracy around the RMA will not help the situation.  The RMA needs a major overhaul.  Local communities need to be placed back in control of their environment, as they are generally more aware of the environmental issues than bureaucrats in central or regional government. We need to recognise property rights, not override them.

Yes. We believe the Minister for the Environment should have overall responsibility for the habitat and general environmental protection provisions of the RMA. In discharging that responsibility, he should hold Regional Councils accountable for their responsibilities under the Act. The Minister would do that publicly and nationally by undertaking audits of Regional Council performance and publishing the results in a manner similar to the process adopted for ERO reports. This would require legislative change.

Yes, this is already addressed through the functions of Regional Councils and monitoring requirements contained in sections 30 and 35 of the Resource Management Act 1991.

Yes, however the decentralised nature of the RMA means this must be done by Government supporting Councils, as well as requiring performance from them. National standards are essential to bring the poor performing Councils up with the good ones. Industry commitments, such as Fonterra refusing to collect milk from non-compliant farms, would aid Councils. The Greens will also require regular and standardised reporting from Councils with an emphasis on outcomes and results, not just process.

Yes.  It is the belief of the Maori Party that amending the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Local Government Act 2002 to better provide for appropriate representation and authority of local iwi and hapü in regional decision-making, is a key step to ensuring increased environmental accountability by Regional Councils.

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