Rebel committee opens hearings in Auckland

2.45pm

A "rebel" parliamentary committee of opposition MPs is meeting in Auckland today to hear public submissions on the Government's Resource Management Amendment Bill.

National, ACT and New Zealand First have formed the committee because, they say, the Government is not allowing sufficient time for the bill to be considered before passing it.

National's environment spokesman Nick Smith said today 32 written submissions had been received from a wide range of organisations concerned about the impact the legislation will have.

"The most contentious parts of the bill are to make protection of heritage a higher priority, to broaden the definition of heritage to include 'spiritual, cultural and ancestral' landscapes and to make recognition of iwi planning documents mandatory", he said in a statement.

Parliament's local government and environment committee held public hearings and reported the bill back about 18 months ago.

The committee made changes to numerous clauses, and opposition parties believe there should be further consideration of the legislation.

"Fixing the Resource Management Act is essential to resolving New Zealand's energy crisis and the huge roading congestion problems in a timely way," Dr Smith said.

"There is uniform condemnation of the shonky process by which this bill is being advanced."

Acting Environment Minister Pete Hodgson disagreed, and said the bill had been in Parliament for four years under correct procedures.

"The committee heard hundreds of submissions," he said on National Radio.

"The committee is allowed to make changes, it did so on majority votes."

Among the organisations due to present evidence at today's hearing are the Employers and Manufacturers Association, AMP Investments, the Resource Users Association and the Petroleum Exploration Association.

The "rebel" committee intends holding a second hearing in Wellington on Monday.

It will then write a report for Parliament, which will form part of the legislative process because the committee has no legal standing.

- NZPA