Category: Submissions

The proposed Regulatory Standards Bill prioritises private property rights over collective environmental interests. It asserts that “legislation should not take or impair, or authorise the taking or impairing of, property without the consent of the owner unless: there is good justification for the taking or impairment, fair compensation is provided to the owner, and compensation is provided to the extent practicable by or on behalf of the persons who obtain the benefit.” While this protects individual property owners, it could discourage essential regulations, like wetland protections or agricultural runoff controls, by imposing significant compensation burdens. This approach overlooks the shared value of ecosystems and the collective responsibility to safeguard them for future generations.

Full submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill here

Posting my submissions from the last few months.

Submission on Proposed Management Measures for the Northland Spiny Rock Lobster Fishery (CRA 1)

Submission on Let’s Protect Our Environment. Auckland Councils Regional Pest Management Plan.

Submission on Development
Contributions Policy 2025

Submission on GD05 Erosion and Sediment Control Guide for Land Disturbing Activities in the Auckland Region Review

Supporting Patuharakeke Hapū’s request to extend the Section 186A Closure on Mair and Marsden Banks, Marsden Point to the harvesting of ALL SHELLFISH

Support for temporary fisheries closure for harvesting mussels, Ōhiwa Harbour, Bay of Plenty

Submission on Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill

“The ‘crisis’ is a creation of a small number of businesses that have not invested in a low emissions future. The consequences of addressing the ‘crisis’ with high-risk activities and increasing emissions impact the entire planet and future generations.”

Submission from STET Limited on the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill

Submissions on the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill began to come online here on the 17th of January 2024. There are about 6,540 submissions so far, some have supplementary material. I have been playing with ChatGPT to write Python code to download and categorise the submissions and supplementary material.

I downloaded 7,586 PDFs. It looks like at least 70% of the submissions came from here or have similar concerns as 5,518 PDFs include one of these words / terms ” racist”, ” all people of New Zealand”, ” ancestral”, ” all New Zealanders”, ” race”, ” racism”, ” racial”, ” remove acknowledgment of customary rights”, ” customary rights should not exist”, ” oppose the customary fishing rights”, ” 1 set of rules”, ” one set of rules”, ” one law for all”, ” all people”, ” one people”, ” people equally”, ” apply to everyone”, ” skin colour”, ” discrimination”, ” apartheid”, ” separatist”, ” all citizens”, ” for all to enjoy”, ” all the people”, ” all people”, ” treated differently”, ” select group to fish”, ” one law”, ” exception for any group”, ” any one group”, ” regardless of ancestry”, ” same rights” or ” divide the people”.

Note that nearly all these submissions support the protection measures in the bill, but object to customary rights. The number of submissions appears to be increasing daily as they are processed by parliamentary staff.