Latest / Best of Business / Thomas Coughlan: NZ Herald deputy political editor on the Government's plan to axe and replace the RMA

Transcript

Thomas Coughlan: NZ Herald deputy political editor on the Government's plan to axe and replace the RMA · Best of Business

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Join us.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Now is New Zealand Herald Deputy Political editor Thomas Coughlin.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Thomas, good morning.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: How would you feel.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: About a four year term?
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Not ready for me to take a view in it.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: I certainly the merits of a four year term have
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: been articulated quite convincingly by politicians in the last few years.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know that they often
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: complain about the fact that that three years is too
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: short to get anything substantive done. And you know, you
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: do see a bit of that. But but on the
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: other hand, you know that they have a unicameral parliament.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: They can really do whatever they like with that parliament.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: I mean, you saw this week the government wanted a
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: late addition to this Gang's Bill, which which which brushed
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: up again some pretty serious human rights concerns. So they
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: brought back a bill back from the final stage, brought
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: it back to committee stage, I mean, is it in
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: committee stage and pass it all within a couple of days.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: You know that they have a lot of advantages that
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: those other legs, such as happened out. The Americans have
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: four years, but obviously they've got a completely divided political system,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: so they sort of need it, Whereas in New Zealand
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: you could you could change the whole country in a
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: couple of hours if you wanted to, with the power
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: that that that our parliament has. So I think there
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: are questions around giving giving politicians another year of that
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: fairly unbridled power, whether they whether they really need it,
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: whether they should just use this the three years that
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: they've already got better.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Just work better, that's.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: What you're saying, Thomas, Just work better.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: Do you have a feeling don't? Do you think no
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: New Zealanders are ready for this refund? Are open to
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the conversation?
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Hard to know. I haven't seen any recent polling on it.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: I think it's gone too referendums, one of one of
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: them in a long time ago. I mean, it's failed
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: both times. So if it does go to a referendom
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: and politicians don't put some big concessions on the table,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: I think it's pretty hard to see it passing again.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: But we'll see.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Right well, the government might need four years to ax
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: the ARIMA and replace it with two new laws. What's
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: going on here?
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Yes, this is the third time since twenty nineteen that
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: someone's proposed acting the RAMA and replacing it with two laws.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: And in fact Labor did act the RAMA and replace
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: it with two laws with the current government then x
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: those replacements brought back with AREM and is now replacing
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: it with two laws. So these two laws are different
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: from Labors two laws. They're going to be focused on
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: property rights. One of them will deal with environment the
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: environmental effects of stuff, a bit like the RMA does. Now.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: We haven't got a lot of detail about how it
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: will do that, but property rights are going to be
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: at the center of it, and then the other one
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: will be more of an urban development pro development piece
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: of legislation. So we don't we know the vague trust
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: of where they're heading with us, but we haven't seen
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: legislation yet. That's that's appointed at work group to sort
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: of iron out the details. But again they're planning to
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: move pretty quickly with it. They want they want new
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: legislation in place for the of the parliaments, which you know,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: given and we only have a three year term, is
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: rapidly approaching.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Certainly, look very quickly. There was some tension in the
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: House around Mary language week this week.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Yes, yes, there was, I mean there were there was
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: a bit of tension in the House around a fair
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: bit of stuff. There's some some tension that I think
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: the government was sort of Johnny come lately regarding Maori
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: language use. That was evident on Monday when when when
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: Paul Goldsman sort of trotted out of Sucker Tokey despite
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: having gotten into hot water about his not using Malory's salutations.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: And there's there's been a bit of controversy this this
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: year in general around the way that that Maori questions
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: are used in the House and and translated in and
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: and MP switching back and forth, which is it's a
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: funny controversy because we've had we've had Maldi translation in
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: the House sometimes. Now I think it's finntil for the nineties.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: So it's sort of interesting that it's it's bubbling to
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: the floor at the moment that I can't see it's
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: really becoming too controversial. It's already in my mainstream issues.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Thomas.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Good to catch up for more from News Talks at
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: b listen live on air or online, and keep our
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: shows with you Wherever you go with our podcast on iHeartRadio.