Hon Chris Bishop
Minister for Infrastructure

The Government has released the independent Advisory Group’s report on the 384 projects which applied to be listed in the Fast-track Approvals Bill, and further detail about the careful management of Ministers’ conflicts of interest, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop says.

Independent Advisory Group Report

The full report has now been published by the Ministry for the Environment. It provides the full list of the 384 projects that applied to be listed in the Fast-track Approvals Bill, and the Advisory Group’s recommendation for each project.

“The Bill, as introduced, was going to contain two lists of projects with significant national or regional benefits: Projects listed in Schedule 2A of the Bill were intended to be ready to start the Fast-track consenting process as soon as the Bill passed into law, while the listing of a project in Schedule 2B confirmed that project’s national or regional benefits when it eventually sought Ministerial approval to enter the Fast-track consent process,” Mr Bishop says.

“As we said when we released the list of projects last Sunday, the independent Advisory Group recommended to Ministers a total of 342 projects for inclusion in the Bill. Cabinet chose to include 149 of them after taking into account the capacity from expert panels to assess these projects.

“When Ministers received the Advisory Group’s report it was clear that, because so many projects were suitable for 2A, having a separate list for Schedule 2B was unnecessary. The Government therefore proposes to amend the Bill to remove 2B.

“Narrowing down the projects from the total of 342 recommended by the Advisory Group to the 149 which will be listed in the Bill wasn’t easy. The makeup of the final list is not a reflection of the quality of projects which weren’t chosen in the end, nor is it a sign that any future application to the Fast-track process for these projects would be unsuccessful.”

Identification and management of conflicts of interest

During the policy development process, Ministers sought advice on any conflict of interest matters from the Cabinet Office and management plans were put in place as appropriate.

“The Ministers for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development were delegated authority to determine which projects were to be listed in the Bill,” Mr Bishop says.

For efficiency, Ministers each assessed specific sectors for listing:

• As Minister of Infrastructure I assessed the Housing and Land Development, and Infrastructure projects (excluding transport and energy)
• the Minister of Transport assessed the Transport and Energy projects
• the Minister of Regional Development assessed the mining, quarrying and aquaculture and farming projects.   

“In considering the projects recommended for inclusion in the schedule to the Fast-track Approvals Bill, Ministers were mindful of the need to manage any actual or perceived conflicts of interest between our pecuniary, personal or constituency interests and our ministerial responsibilities.

“Accordingly, we made arrangements with the Prime Minister’s agreement such that, where one of us identified a conflict of interest with a project, that Minister took no part in the consideration of that project and instead transferred their Ministerial responsibilities relating to that project to another Minister in accordance with section 7 of the Constitution Act 1986.

“Minister Jones identified conflicts of interest with eight projects and Minister Potaka was the Acting Minister of Regional Development in relation to consideration of those projects. Those projects were those submitted by:

• Te Aupouri Fisheries Management Ltd
• James Murray Aquaculture Ltd
• Taharoa Ironsands Ltd (3 projects)
• Kings Quarry Ltd
• Katikati Quarries Ltd
• Matamata Metal Supplies

“I identified one project with a potential conflict of interest due to a possible perception of having publicly advocated for it previously, and out of an abundance of caution I transferred the decision to Minister Brown. That project was Winton Land Limited’s Sunfield development in Auckland.”

“It is important to note that these transfers applied only to the relevant Ministers’ decision-making responsibilities outlined above. Transfers were not required if conflicts of interest were identified in relation to projects for which that Minister did not have sector responsibility.

“Once delegated Ministers had made decisions, the final list of projects was considered by Cabinet Committee and Cabinet. Ahead of those meetings, Ministers reviewed their interests and declared any conflicts of interest in relation to any of the listed projects.

“Ministers who declared an interest with a particular project left the room for any discussion at Cabinet Committee or Cabinet relating to that project.”

© Scoop Media