Speaking at the National Party's Blue-Greens conference over the weekend, Environment Minister Nick Smith said the local government and environment select committee had completed its deliberations last Thursday, that the bill would be reported back tomorrow, and that he expected it to pass through the Parliament in its entirety in March.
However, he indicated that negotiations with the Maori Party are not yet finalised.
"Obviously, when the detail of the bill is reported back, we'll need to work with the Maori Party to ensure that the agreement we've reached is translated into the final text of the bill and there will be some discussions there," he said.
He confirmed also that the Productivity Commission is close to issuing a report on the RMA. The report is expected to recommend that environmental and urban planning law be separated to improve the speed and efficiency of decision-making in growing cities such as Auckland, where regulatory processes and planning regulation have been blamed as a significant element in a shortage of housing stock that has contributed very house high price inflation.
That approach is likely to be supported in principle by both the National and Labour parties, although the speed with which such a major reform could be attempted is likely to be regarded as challenging.