The Government needs to act with much more urgency to cut through our complex planning rules and free up housing supply, Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins says.

“The real risk is that at the end of this process we end up with something that is more costly, complicated and cumbersome than we already have.

“I wrote to David Parker in early 2019 and offered to work together to repeal the RMA and make it easier to build houses in New Zealand. David Parker refused.

“Everyone agrees the RMA needs scrapping, we can’t understand why Labour doesn’t sense the same urgency.

“Today’s announcement is one part of one of the three new pieces of legislation Labour wants to replace the RMA with. It’s too slow and too complex. The whole idea is to make the RMA simpler and easier to deal with.

“Since Jacinda Ardern has become Prime Minister, house prices have increased by $290,000. That is just in four year.

“Last year I said we needed urgent legislation to free up housing supply because we can’t wait years for the RMA to be replaced. My Urgent Measures Bill is fully drafted and ready to go, Labour can take that and implement it today.

“We know what works, National freed up planning rules in Christchurch after the earthquakes and house prices stabilised.

“My Bill takes the same approach across all of New Zealand, requiring councils to urgently upgrade their District Plans to make it easier for people to build houses.

“When Labour does eventually pass their new laws it looks set to see town planning become even more complex today. Labour’s Natural and Built Environment’s Act empowers Regional Planning Committees to set rules for everything from biodiversity, climate change, ecological integrity and housing supply.

“We all know it takes far too long to build anything in New Zealand. A National Government would scrap the RMA and focus on making New Zealand an easier place to get things done.”