Simon Court ACT MP and Undersecretary to the Minister for RMA Reform and Infrastructure.
New Zealand is one of the most beautiful countries in the world – from our pristine beaches to snow-capped mountains, our rolling farmland to majestic forests. But behind this stunning landscape lies a problem that’s growing more acute with each passing year – New Zealand is the best land in the world, and yet we can’t build on it.
Whether it’s homes, roads, power stations, water treatment plants, or even quarries, nearly every major infrastructure project in this country faces a monumental barrier – the incredibly complex, outdated, and overbearing Resource Management Act (RMA). A system that’s built to block rather than build, so our land is simply sitting there, unable to live up to its full potential. And in the meantime, our communities and our economy suffer.
Look around, and you’ll see the consequences. Young people are increasingly disillusioned with the prospects of home ownership, and many are leaving for countries where they can get ahead in life. For those who do manage to buy a home, the cost is often astronomical. Many poorer households are now spending more than half their income just to pay rent.
Meanwhile, the Government’s billions in rental subsidies only paper over the cracks of a broken housing system. The fact that so many New Zealanders are still renting in their retirement is a clear sign that something is wrong with the system.
It all comes back to one simple issue – the difficulty in getting consent to build infrastructure we need to support a thriving, modern economy. Roads, rail, power stations, water treatment plants – the basic services that connect us all – are stymied by the same bureaucratic inertia.
This is where ACT’s hard work in opposition is paying off. Late last year, Cabinet gave the green light to significant reforms that will reshape New Zealand’s resource management system based on ACT’s 2022 paper, Building New Zealand and Conserving Nature.
We argued that the underlying principle of resource management should shift away from the 1980s-era idea of “sustainable development” – a concept that has never been clearly defined and is practically impossible to implement. Instead, we proposed a shift towards a system that values the preservation of property rights. By refocusing resource management on the protection of individual property rights, we dramatically reduce the range of people who can interfere with the use of someone else’s land.
The Government’s new reforms are based on this very principle, as outlined in ACT’s coalition agreement. These reforms replace the outdated Resource Management Act (RMA) with new, more practical laws. One law will govern urban development and planning, while the other will protect the environment. It’s never made sense that the same laws that protect Fiordland National Park also determine whether a horse paddock in Helensville can have two homes built on it.
These reforms are a game-changer. They will streamline the building process, reduce unnecessary delays, and ensure that people can more easily access the resources they need to build the infrastructure. From water to waste management to energy, these changes will have a profound impact on the lives of all New Zealanders.
ACT’s principles of reducing unnecessary regulation and respecting private property rights are not just theoretical ideas. They’re becoming a reality in government policy, and they offer a solution to many of our most pressing problems.
