Nick Smith7 May, 2009
- Australian Government officials will brief
the Emissions Trading Scheme Review Committee
next Monday on the
Australian Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme,
Minister for Climate Change Issues Nick
Smith announced today.
"In discussions
this week with the Australian Minister for
Climate Change Penny Wong we agreed that
it would be useful for the Select Committee
reviewing the New Zealand ETS to be well
briefed on the Australian scheme, including
the latest changes.
"That is why officials
from the Australian Government will brief
the Select Committee via video-link next
Monday afternoon.
"The Select Committee
members will have the opportunity to hear
first hand details of the design process
and economic modelling underpinning the
CPRS and the timetable of the Australian
scheme.
"This briefing
of the Select Committee builds on the initiative
taken at the Prime Ministerial Summit in
early March between John Key and Kevin Rudd
to explore harmonisation of our responses
to climate change and the establishment
of the Trans-Tasman Officials Group agreed
by Senator Wong and myself.
"Discussions are
at an early stage but the briefing to the
Select Committee shows a genuine willingness
on both sides of the Tasman to work more
closely together on the global challenge
of climate change."
+ More
Work programme for Phase
II of RMA reforms announced
Nick Smith8 May, 2009
- Greater central Government direction and
closer alignment with other legislation
are the key objectives of the Government's
second phase of reform of the Resource Management
Act, Environment Minister Nick Smith announced
today.
Speaking at the annual
conference of the New Zealand Planning Institute
in Rotorua, Dr Smith said Phase II would
build on RMA reforms introduced in February.
"The first reform
phase was about addressing the excessive
bureaucracy, costs and delays of the RMA
while safe guarding the environment. That
Bill is progressing well through Parliament
to be passed into law in July.
"Further reforms
are needed to improve the economic and environmental
outcomes of the Act.
"Phase II is a
far more complex reform process with 10
related work streams. The first four work
streams involve greater central Government
direction to improve management of aquaculture,
infrastructure, urban design and water.
There is also a major job to develop the
scope, functions and structure of the proposed
Environmental Protection Authority.
"A further four
work streams involve better alignment of
the Resource Management Act processes with
those of the Building, Conservation, Forests,
and Historic Places Acts. The final work
stream involves a number of generic RMA
processes that were too complex to include
in Phase I of the reforms.
"Due to the detailed
and complex nature of the second phase of
the RMA reform programme, work will progress
at a more modest pace. It will involve a
number of advisory groups and significant
opportunities for public consultation and
engagement. There is also a lot of detail
to work through and it will take time to
get it right.
"New Zealand is
richly blessed with natural resources. The
Government's resource management reforms
are about ensuring we manage our resources
more effectively and efficiently to deliver
both economic and environmental benefits
for future generations."
