New Zealand's resource management system is broken. Many attempts have been made over the past three decades to fix it. All have missed the mark.
 
Cue the latest attempt, the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill.
 
In my new research note, RMA Reform: Getting the new system right, I argue that the Bills have the right basic shape. But they are missing some critical pieces that would make them work as intended.
 
The Government got the diagnosis right: the RMA had to be replaced. The new system should be based on property rights and make it easier to get things done. After thirty years of failure, this is the closest we have come to getting it right. 
 
An expert group drew up a plan, and Cabinet largely agreed with it. But somewhere in the drafting, the sharp edges got filed off.
 
What is missing?
 
The most striking gap is that, despite the whole reform being built around property rights, neither Bill mentions them. This is a serious omission. Moreover, compensation provisions (‘regulatory relief’) are too weak.
 
The Bills also remove a longstanding requirement in the RMA for decision makers to weigh up costs and benefits. This is a problem when so much will be dependent on ministers’ decisions.
 
Think of it like building a new motorway with no speed limits or road rules. The road might be well-designed, but without rules governing its use, things can still go badly wrong.
 
The Government has chosen to keep the legislation ‘lean’, leaving most of the details to be filled in later by ministers through national directions. That can work - but only if the Bills include guardrails that stop ministerial powers from being misused or misread. Right now, those guardrails are not there.
 
The Bills are also packed with multiple, vaguely worded goals without saying which take priority. This is a recipe for years of court battles.
 
And for a reform intended to make housing more affordable, the provisions needed to satisfy the goal of competitive urban land markets are missing.
 
The research note includes targeted amendments to improve the Bills, which are currently before the Environment Select Committee. The Government has signalled its willingness to rework the Bills to deliver on their original intent. That is an encouraging sign.
 
After thirty years of learning what a broken resource management system costs, Parliament should not need another lesson.

Explore Nick's research in greater detail through our new research note: RMA Reform: Getting the new system right.