Watered-down Development Bill back in Parliament

Press, 5 December 1979, Page 1

Watered-down Development Bill back in Parliament

Parliamentary reporter

Several important changes appeared in the National Development Bill when it was reported hack to Parliament vesterdav.

Immediately after notices of motion had been given, the Government moved that urgency be taken on the report of the Lands and Agriculture Select Committee on the bill. The report was received after a division, by the Government by 40 votes to 32. Among the important changes made to the bill during the committee stage were: — The specific exclusion of atomic energy from the bill’s provisions. — The inclusion, for the first time, of a right of appeal against decisions made under the bill to the Court of Appeal. — A vast reduction in the powers the bill would have in overriding other acts of Parliament. — A specific provision that the Commissioner for the Environment be independent of Ministers of the Crown. — A requirement that the Governor-General be convinced of the need for urgency before the bill’s provisions can be invoked. — The deletion of criminal penalties. In addition, the bill as reported back includes a requirement on the Minister for National Development to make public the report and recommendations of the Planning Tribunal as soon as he receives them. (In the bill as it was first presented to the House, the Minister could delay this publication for a month, during •which time a project could have been designated a work of national importance.) The amended bill also contains a requirement that Orders-in-Council made under the proposed act be reported to Parliament within 14 days. An obligation is also placed on the Minister for National Development to provide Parliament with a written statement giving the reasons for any difference between the effect

of the Order-in-Council and the tribunal’s recommendation. Several other procedural changes in detail have also been included in the amended bill. The positive rights of review included in the amended bill extends not only to the hearings and recommendations of the Planning Tribunal, but also to resulting Orders-in-Council. Appeals to the Court of Appeal must be lodged within 21 days and, as far as practicable, the Court of Appeal shall give priority to appeals brought under the proposed act. The decision of the Court of Appeal shall be final and there shall be no right of review or further appeal. A clause which drew a lot of opposition and which has been dropped from the amended bill is that which would have meant that the proposed act “shall prevail” over 28 other acts and over all regulations and by-laws under those acts. This list of acts has been reduced to 20 and only one act — the Public Works Act, 1928 — is inclined in its entirety. The others are restricted to parts or specified clauses or sections. In the amended bill, the proposed act no longer “prevails” over these specified provisions. Instead, these provisions are “to be read subject to” the proposed act —a delicate shading but an important one. No provision was made in the amended bill for a “sunset clause” under which the proposed act would automatically expire. Several of the groups and individuals who appeared before the select committee had recommended that such a clause be included. The Labour Party had pushed for an expirv date of December 31, 1981. In reporting the bill back to the House,

the chairman of the Lands and Agriculture Select Committee, Mr L. C. Schultz, (Nat., Hauraki), said that Government members of the committee felt this would be too restrictive. “It would be better to see how this legislation worked and then to consider a review of the Town and Country Planning legislation to see if a fast track or priority system could be provided in that legislation,” he said. While in general agreement that the bill had been improved, the Opposition gave clear notice that it still intended to oppose its passage in its present form. The reduced list of 20 acts, or their clauses or sections, over which the amended bill “shall prevail” is:— The Clean Air Act 1972: Sections 8, 10, 13, 18, 23 to 26, 28, 29 31 and 55; Coal Mines Act 1979: Part III; Electricity Act 1968: Sections 20 and 21; Forests Act 1949: Sections 30 to 33; Geothermal Energy Act 1953: Sections 6 and 9; Harbours Act 1950 (other than section 175 (11); Historic Places Act 1954: Sections 9F and 9L; Land Act 1948: Sections 77, 80, 89, 93. and 165; Local Government Act 1974: Part XX; Marine Pollution Act 1974: Section 22; Mining Act 1971: Part IV; National Parks: Sections 28, 32, and 33 (2); Petroleum Act 1937: Sections 5, 12, 50, 55, and 70; Public Works Act 1928; Reserves Act 1977: Sections 48 and 109 (3); Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941: Sections 149 and 150; Town and Country Planning Act 1977: Parts I to V; Tramways Act 1908: Sections 3 (1), 16, and Second Schedule; T ram ways Amen dmen t Act 1911: Section 6; and Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967: Sections 21, 23, 24, and 248. Debate in House, Page 3.