After five years of talking a big game on RMA reform, Labour has managed to produce legislation which is likely worse than what we have now, National’s Housing, Infrastructure and Acting Environment spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“National has long supported comprehensive RMA reform. The RMA is broken and all New Zealanders are paying the price.

“National’s simple test on RMA reform is whether it will make it easier to get things done - like building the houses New Zealand desperately needs and addressing our infrastructure deficit – while pragmatically protecting the environment.

“We will be carefully considering the Bills but we are deeply sceptical that Labour’s reforms will meet this test.

“The new Bills will add yet more bureaucracy, add more complexity to the system, introduce significant legal uncertainty, and risk repeating the mistakes of the past.

“More centralisation, bureaucracy and control is not the answer. We need to make it easier for Kiwis to get things done. That means giving New Zealanders the certainty as to what they can and can’t do on their land, and reducing the need for the bureaucratic rigmarole we have at the moment and the ability for planners to hold up legitimate development.

“National is committed to meaningful reform that delivers just that.

“It’s astounding that, five years in, this is the best Labour can come up with. New Zealanders deserve better.”