RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown announce extensions for ports' permits at a press conference in Auckland's Parnell. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
Ports are having their permits for pre-RMA activities extended for another 20 years, so they won't need to obtain new ones before September 2026, under a new government proposal.
The government says all New Zealand ports are expected to shift to "permanent resource management arrangements" by the time the extended permits expire.
Transport Minister Simeon Brown and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop announced the decision on Wednesday afternoon, saying it was critical ports had certainty without facing unnecessary cost.
They said the Resource Management Act, which the coalition reinstated while it considered a replacement after ditching Labour's solution, required ports to obtain coastal permits to continue operations every 35 years.
While the ports had expanded since the 1991 law was brought in, the ministers said gaining permits for activities from before then had become increasingly difficult.
With the permits set to expire in September 2026, the government had decided to extend the permits for a further 20 years, the ministers said.
Environmental protesters shouted slogans and held up banners during a press conference by Chris Bishop and Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
"Boosting productivity is a key part of our plan to rebuild the economy, which is why it is essential we extend port coastal permits to provide firms with the certainty they need to continue their operations."
They said the move was "aligned with the National-NZ First coalition agreement commitment to facilitate the development and efficiency of ports, and strengthen international supply networks".
A small group of environmental protesters set off a siren and heckled the ministers throughout their press conference, calling for a stop to the government's Fast-track Approvals Bill.
Two held a banner that said "fossil fools", while others yelled: "These are the faces of the climate apocalypse."
The government plans to have the 20-year extension included in its second RMA Amendment Bill, to be introduced later in 2024.
At a press conference in the Parnell Rose Gardens on Wednesday, near the Ports of Auckland, Brown said the permits were about "providing certainty for our port sector so we can grow our economy".
Bishop said the RMA in its current form meant it had "just become too hard to do things in this country".
He gave the example of a wind farm in Makara, which he said had taken two years to build, but eight years to get resource consent.
"We need to move from an obstruction economy to a can-do economy."
The RMA was "a handbrake to growth and development", he said,