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Chris Bishop: Infrastructure Minister on the Fast Track Approvals Bill passing final reading · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks'd be follow
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  Speaker 2: Seven after five. We're two for the Fast Track, the
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  Speaker 2: hotly debated fast Track Bill that became law last night,
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  Speaker 2: not before some protesters had their say one final time.
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  Speaker 3: Leave that house old please, no, don't do that. Guys,
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  Speaker 3: pull that. Don't interfere.
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  Speaker 2: They certainly got told, didn't they. One hundred and forty
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  Speaker 2: nine projects are named in the bill, supposed to get
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  Speaker 2: the big infrastructure stuff off and running, housing, energy projects
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  Speaker 2: all off the ground faster. Chris Bishop is the Minister
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  Speaker 2: for Infrastructure. Hello minister, Hello, thanks for being on the program.
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  Speaker 2: What happens now the laws passed? How quickly can a
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  Speaker 2: project happen?
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  Speaker 3: So the law has been passed and the Government General
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  Speaker 3: will sign it and then it will be officially law
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  Speaker 3: and people will be able to apply from the seventh
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  Speaker 3: of February next year. And there's a whole lot of
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  Speaker 3: work behind the scenes. We're standing up the you know,
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  Speaker 3: we've got to a point, a panel convener, a point
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  Speaker 3: of the expert panels that we've got to get the
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  Speaker 3: sort of portal live and all the kind of administrative
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  Speaker 3: stuff that you'd expect, but seventh of February is the key.
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  Speaker 2: Date, so that's when you can apply. How long do
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  Speaker 2: you think applications will take.
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  Speaker 3: Well, it will depend a little bit. Some are going
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  Speaker 3: to be more complicated than others. But obviously we've got
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  Speaker 3: that initial list of the one hundred and forty nine
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  Speaker 3: projects that are sort of pre approved as meeting the
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  Speaker 3: test of national and regional significance, so there'll be the
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  Speaker 3: kind of first cans off the rank, if you want
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  Speaker 3: to put it like that, and then I'm almost certain
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  Speaker 3: that many will apply straight away. We've got to get
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  Speaker 3: the expert panel set up as quickly as possible, so
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  Speaker 3: we're doing that work over the next six to eight
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  Speaker 3: weeks and then you know they'll be stood up and
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  Speaker 3: they'll be going off the panel. So I would expect
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  Speaker 3: you will see projects consented next year, definitely.
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  Speaker 2: Will you be okay, that's good? And then presumably they
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  Speaker 2: will be some of them will be gung home, wanting
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  Speaker 2: to get shovels and ground or an ocean whatever it
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  Speaker 2: might be straight away.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I mean, the whole point of the fast track
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  Speaker 3: law is that it's a one stop shop. So you're
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  Speaker 3: dealing with resource consents, Wildlife Act conservation. You know, again
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  Speaker 3: it will depend on the project, but you know all
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  Speaker 3: of the things you need to do so that you
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  Speaker 3: can turn the first side and get on with things.
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  Speaker 3: Fundings are separate issue. You know there will be projects
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  Speaker 3: that will get consented that that aren't economic to build
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  Speaker 3: quite yet, or don't have funding attached, both from the
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  Speaker 3: public and the private sector. But you know, if there's
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  Speaker 3: private capital available and the projects are consented through the
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  Speaker 3: fast Track, then you know they can get on with it.
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  Speaker 3: And that's exactly what this country needs. We need people
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  Speaker 3: putting up money, getting on with the job and getting
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  Speaker 3: things built in this country.
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  Speaker 2: I couldn't agree with you more. But would you be
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  Speaker 2: surprised if any who are on the list, the one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and forty nine that you talk about don't get approval.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we've deliberately left it open for the expert panels
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  Speaker 3: to decline projects in some circumstances where the adverse effects
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  Speaker 3: on the environment outweigh the significance of the project. And
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  Speaker 3: so you might remember when we first started talking about
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  Speaker 3: fast Track, it was going to be the minister or
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  Speaker 3: minister's plural the Twyker. You know, me and Shane and
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  Speaker 3: some we were going to have the ability to essentially
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  Speaker 3: grant the consents ourselves. We changed that because well for
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  Speaker 3: a variety of reasons, but we heard the sort of
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  Speaker 3: public feedback around that, and so the panels have the
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  Speaker 3: ability to grant the final yay or nay, So you
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  Speaker 3: know it will be ultimately over to the panels. But
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  Speaker 3: we've sent a very clear message Parliament has and the
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  Speaker 3: government has that we want to get on with the
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  Speaker 3: job of making it easy to build infrastructure, renewable energy, minds,
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  Speaker 3: quarries and all the things in this country needs to
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  Speaker 3: get ahead.
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  Speaker 2: Of Position says if they are put back in charge,
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  Speaker 2: they'll revoke consents. They are even warning those who are
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  Speaker 2: investing in these projects look out, because you know we'll
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  Speaker 2: be coming and making life hard for you. Do you
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  Speaker 2: think that would put perhaps call some trepidation in the
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  Speaker 2: minds of those who are wanting to invest.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the Married Party said that, but I don't think
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  Speaker 3: anyone takes them particularly seriously. I mean, they're just a
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  Speaker 3: joke of a political party that that sort of stuff
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  Speaker 3: would make New Zealand into a banana republic. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: no one should.
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  Speaker 2: Take Well, we did the oil and gasban, we did
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  Speaker 2: the gast band was no warning.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I don't think anyone should take anything. The
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  Speaker 3: Married Party says, seriously, this is a really important bill
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  Speaker 3: in act actually now that will help New Zealand get ahead.
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  Speaker 3: And any sort of suggestion from the opposition that projects
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  Speaker 3: that are consented might have their their projects retrospectively reversed
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  Speaker 3: or anything like that, you know, that would that would
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  Speaker 3: see New Zealand even further down down the past the
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  Speaker 3: civil status if we were heading under the last government.
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  Speaker 2: It's technically possible, though, I mean, if a new them
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  Speaker 2: came in and they wanted to do that, they could
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  Speaker 2: do that. What you're saying is that that would just
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  Speaker 2: sully our reputation to the point beyond beyond, which it's
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  Speaker 2: a joke.
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  Speaker 3: Well, parliament is beyond the sovereign. You know, Parliament, Supreme
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  Speaker 3: Parliament can do almost anything in this country. But there
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  Speaker 3: are institutional norms and constitutional conventions that prevent parliaments doing
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  Speaker 3: things like that. So I would hope that saner minds
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  Speaker 3: on the opposition ventures prevail and no one to take
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  Speaker 3: any as any attention to the wild ramblings of a
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  Speaker 3: failed political party in the married Party. No, Ultimately, Parliament
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  Speaker 3: is sovereign, but I think saner minds would prevail.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Minister, thank you for that. That's Chris Busship,
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  Speaker 2: Infrastructure Minister. Twelve after five.
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