Economic growth looms over climate

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

by Bob Hughes

Before the 2023 election, climate activists expected a National, Act and New Zealand First coalition Government to hit the brakes on climate and environmental action. This has now been confirmed.

On Friday, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced their plan to fast-track infrastructure projects. The fast-track legislation is being labelled by Opposition parties as an anti-environment approach that will make New Zealand a “banana republic” but, unsurprisingly, business groups are all for it.

Bob Hughes

In my October 17 letter “Short-term Governments, long-term climate issues” I alerted readers that climate change and the environment are a low priority for National and its Act coalition partner, which wants to repeal the Zero Carbon Act. NZ First leader Winston Peters has been spreading misleading climate information at public meetings. Here it’s being confirmed by the words and actions of these four Ministers.

Environmental groups also accuse the Government of an “unprecedented assault on nature and democracy”.

Gen Toop of Greenpeace said: “The new fast-track bill is a radically anti-environment policy, giving unbridled power to Ministers to approve developments. It will allow all of this to take place with vastly limited input from the public.”

World-Wide Fund for Nature NZ chief executive Kayla Kingdon-Bebb said the bill would give Ministers “unprecedented, sweeping powers to green-light new infrastructure projects such as coal mines and fish farms”. She said it was an unprecedented assault on nature and democracy.

“New Zealanders didn’t vote to trash our iconic landscapes and consign our threatened species to extinction simply for a boost in export revenue and a few expedited developments . . .

“It’s placing unbridled power in the hands of a handful of development-focused Ministers, cutting the public out of decision-making, undermining the rights and interests of tangata whenua, and running roughshod over New Zealand’s Treaty obligations.”

Forest & Bird chief executive Nicola Toki said the law was flinging open a back door to let destructive industries and special interests bypass protection laws that had been based on science.

Yet the mining lobby is looking forward to consent changes. Josie Vidal, chief executive of mining industry group Straterra, told Morning Report it was misleading to say the changes would harm the environment.

Quite wrong — without a doubt, all these changes will speed up environmental degradation and global climate change.

In his 2010 book Requiem for a Species, Australian Clive Hamilton wrote: “Sometimes facing up to the truth is just too hard. When the facts are distressing it is easier to reframe or ignore them. Around the world, only a few have truly faced up to the facts about global warming . . . . In 2050 Australians will be living in a nation transformed by a changing climate, with widespread doubt over whether we’ll make it to the end of the century.” New Zealand as well.

I too expected this coalition Government to hit the brakes on climate and environmental action. They expressed their lack of commitment through the placements of Climate Minister Simon Watts and Environment Minister Penny Simmonds outside the Cabinet.

Their new policies include: loosening deforestation protections; reopening fossil fuel extraction, oil and gas exploration; electric vehicle discount cuts; lower target for agriculture GHG emissions; cycleway funding cut; light rail canned; additional major highways.

All these policies show extreme weakness in commitment.

Why cast blame when most believe economic growth must loom over all policy decisions, including damaging nature and hurrying climate change?