The House drops into first gear on RMA
Episode description
This week the Government added a morning sitting of the House to 'get stuck into' completing debate on RMA reform. The Opposition just aimed for 'stuck'.
Parliament has been considering RMA reform for years. The Resource Management Act has been tinkered with repeatedly since it was created by a National-led government back in 1991. But while tinkering can fix annoyances, it can also make legislation larger and more cumbersome. Eventually laws just need to be completely rethought and rewritten. The current administration has been doing a lot of that.
David Parker has led the creation of multiple new laws to replace the RMA. It has been a very slow process including even the rare step of a public 'exposure draft' before the final legislation was finalised. That legislation has been wending its way through Parliament for many months.
David Parker in the House (file photo).
On the upside for reform, all parties in Parliament appear to agree it is well past time to replace the RMA. But that agreement does not extend to how to replace it, or with what.
As a result both National and ACT are opposed to the new legislation. The Greens also have some things they would ideally like to change.
The bills have reached crunch-time. Parliament has just 4 full sitting weeks left and the bills are not agreed. Worse, they have reached the Committee Stage, the one stage when opposition can make a meal of the debate and slow down their progress. With so little debating time left, those filibustering (slowing) legislation could hope to prevent it being agreed before time expires.
Last week Parliament approved a number of bills in surprising time. The debates seemed to rush by with surprisingly little opposition comment. But this week is proving the opposition has gone home quite yet.
These bills are easy to filibuster. They are very long, very complex and are constructed in many parts. In Committee the House can separately debate and vote on each of the parts of a bill.
Filibustering a bill the government has spent years developing might seem mean, but it is a legitimate tactic of opposition. And National and ACT definitely oppose this.
RNZ's The House - journalism focussed on parliamentary legislation, issues and insights - is made with funding from Parliament's Office of the Clerk.