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Nick Leggett & Gary Taylor: The projects picked for fast track approval · The SME Stream

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  Speaker 1: One hundred and forty nine projects have been picked for
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: fast tracking through the Fast Track Approvals Bills, Housing, energy,
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  Speaker 1: major infrastructure projects take the priority. Eden Park two point
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  Speaker 1: one is on the list as well. Infrastructure Minister Chris
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  Speaker 1: Bishop reckons the bill will be passed by the end.
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  Speaker 2: Of this year, the expert panels will be set up
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  Speaker 2: early in twenty twenty five and our expectations that some
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  Speaker 2: of these projects will be consented in a manner of
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  Speaker 2: that compares to the status quo, which could be a
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  Speaker 2: matter of years and years.
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  Speaker 1: But the legislation and the list is still contentious. Infrastructure
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  Speaker 1: New Zealand Boss Nick Leggett is a fan, but CEO
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  Speaker 1: of the Environmental Defense Society Gary Taylor has some questions.
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  Speaker 1: They are both with us this afternoon. Kilder, guys neck
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  Speaker 1: us up with you. What do you think of the list?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's quite a balanced lush jack and
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  Speaker 3: it really speaks to the need that this country has
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  Speaker 3: to get its act together and build some infrastructure. You
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  Speaker 3: know that works both for land trends, sport, for alternative
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  Speaker 3: energy and of course for housing and leland is hampered
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  Speaker 3: with infrastructure. We're small, you know, we're a small market.
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  Speaker 3: We're distant from other parts of the country, but we're
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  Speaker 3: also very slow and we're not that great at making decisions,
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  Speaker 3: and so we fall at the bottom of the world
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  Speaker 3: where it comes to the efficiency that we get from
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  Speaker 3: our infrastructure spend. That's because stuff gets delayed, things take
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  Speaker 3: too long to consent and you know, frankly, we just
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  Speaker 3: we lack the certainty in our market to to be
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  Speaker 3: able to get efficiency.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Gary, what do you think of the list specifically?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I agree with Neck there's a lot of I mean,
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  Speaker 4: we have a huge infrastructure deficit in this country. You know,
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  Speaker 4: we need to spend another two hundred million dollars or
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  Speaker 4: so to fix things, and that's obviously a priority, I think.
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  Speaker 4: I think however, there is some so you know, there's
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  Speaker 4: a lot that's on that list that I wouldn't quibble with,
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  Speaker 4: but there are some that I.
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  Speaker 1: Would, Right, What would you quibble with?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I'd quibble with the inclusion of coal mines, for instance.
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  Speaker 4: I think having trans Tasman resources on there is actually
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  Speaker 4: a surprise because they want to use the same space
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  Speaker 4: as off Taranaki, as the offshore wind guys want to use.
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  Speaker 4: And I might have thought wind was a higher priority
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  Speaker 4: in terms of infrastructure than you know, sand extraction. There's
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  Speaker 4: also sort of zombie projects as they're called, which are
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  Speaker 4: the ones that have already been through a normal process
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  Speaker 4: and then refused consent for good reasons. Was the kia
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  Speaker 4: Y Matty waste to energy plant, which I think is
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  Speaker 4: very controversial in terms of its potential for bad air emissions.
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  Speaker 1: So those are all, I mean predominantly environmental concerns, and
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  Speaker 1: how do you respond to that? Are you concerned about
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  Speaker 1: those environmental projects that might have negative environmental impacts?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think that everybody needs to be on watch
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  Speaker 3: where it comes to environmental projects. Would say that we're
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  Speaker 3: pretty pleased to see the quarries included, because we can't
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  Speaker 3: build decent infrastructure projects without quarries, and we have a
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  Speaker 3: problem in this country that quarries are becoming farther and
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  Speaker 3: farther from cities, and of course that adds to not
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  Speaker 3: only costs but also emissions to get aggregate to where
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  Speaker 3: it needs to go to build. But look, I would
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  Speaker 3: say there are protections here and that we would expect
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  Speaker 3: that expert panels to put conditions on consents that address
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  Speaker 3: environmental and social impacts during construction and for the eventual
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  Speaker 3: operations of these projects infrastructure. New Zealand is primarily interested
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  Speaker 3: in the building of decent infrastructure for KIWIS. Gary raises
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  Speaker 3: our points, and other people who have opposed us raised
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  Speaker 3: fair points. We've got to ensure that the right checks
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  Speaker 3: and balances are in place. And I would say this
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  Speaker 3: as well, Jack, that this is a stop gap until
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  Speaker 3: we can get to that review of the RNA and
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  Speaker 3: the venture replacement. And that's something that's really worth emphasizing.
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  Speaker 3: But we can't afford to pause progress because the country's
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  Speaker 3: social and economic and productivity future relies on us being
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  Speaker 3: able to get some stuff done in the near to
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  Speaker 3: medium terms.
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  Speaker 1: Let me turn that round then on Gary, just finally,
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  Speaker 1: then what do you think about having this bill operating
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  Speaker 1: in practice with that expert panel in place? What will
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  Speaker 1: make it work better from your perspective?
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  Speaker 4: I'd make three quick points. So the first is that
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  Speaker 4: we already have fast tracked law in place. Over eighty
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  Speaker 4: projects have been approved, including a lot of infrastructure projects,
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  Speaker 4: an average time for decision making of eighty eight days.
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  Speaker 4: The only difference with this point, which is my second one,
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  Speaker 4: with this law is that it actually covers other legislation
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  Speaker 4: as well as the ROMA, so the Conservation Act, the
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  Speaker 4: Wildlife Act, and so on. That arguably is a good thing.
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  Speaker 4: I suppose a one stop shop. But the third and
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  Speaker 4: most important point, and here I do disagree with Nick,
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  Speaker 4: is that there's an implicit heavy bias against the environment
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  Speaker 4: and in favor of development the way that this bill
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  Speaker 4: is drafted at present. And if you want to take
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  Speaker 4: the kind of emotional pitch that you included in your
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  Speaker 4: editorial at the start here, yes, it's really important that
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  Speaker 4: we clean up the oil spill in Samoa, but it's
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  Speaker 4: also really important that we look after our environment in
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  Speaker 4: this country.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, thank you both for your time. We really appreciate it.
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  Speaker 1: Gary Taylor and net leget led