Letter to the Editor, Tuesday August 9, 2016

Democracy in peril

The Far North community - and others all around New Zealand - face renewed attempts by central government to erode local control over local affairs.

Environment Minister Nick Smith wants Parliament to give him sweeping new powers under the RMA to dictate rules to override local authority planning with and for their communities.

Time is now in short supply to ensure that Parliament does not pass these provisions into law. The select committee is due to report back to Parliament in the first week of September.

Most political parties, including ACT, the Greens, Labour, the Maori Party and United Future, have said they do not support central government having such powers over local authorities.

We appreciate the strong stance that NZ First has taken championing local democracy and opposing moves that would take power away from communities. In his Force for the North column last week (Councils fear loss of control of services), Winston Peters stated:

"The heavy hand of the government is falling on local councils, and many are upset. They have every right to be.

"We believe in local being best for everyone and for every town. Local people give local representatives their vote to act for them in their local area".

Given NZ First's excellent advocacy for local democracy, we urge our local MP not to support the government's bid to undermine the Far North community's ability to plan for its future.

The powers Nick Smith wants are sweeping, and would knee-cap or quash outright a wide range of local initiatives to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of our communities - even when they have overwhelming support and the benefits of these initiatives have been demonstrated under strict planning requirements.

An obvious target would be GM-free zoning to protect Northland agricultural economies - an outcome that has wide support in the region, and has been through more than a decade of policy analysis. But that is by no means the only likely casualty.

Amendments to remove the worst excesses of the proposals will do little to protect communities from the autocratic powers Wellington could wield over them.

These are nothing short of Putin-style powers, and should be rejected outright. Simply put, there is no formulation of such powers that is consistent with local democracy.

A wide cross section of New Zealand has condemned s360D as being unnecessary, constitutionally unsound and an assault on local democracy.

That opposition encompasses major agricultural interests (Fonterra, Beef and Lamb, Horticulture New Zealand and Dairy NZ), many local authorities, legal professionals, mana whenua and community groups.

The government has not made the case for sweeping powers to override local democracy.

Nor do we believe there to be one. Existing powers under the RMA are sufficient. Where they are not, the government of the day can propose specific changes to the RMA.

It should not be given carte blanche when the problem is so poorly specified and the impact on local democracy would be so severe.

MARTY ROBINSON
Spokesman, GE Free Northland
Kerikeri