A collective of “hysterical hobbits”, “green politburo banshees”, and “screaming wetland birds” have convinced the Government to make sensible changes to its fundamentally flawed fast-tracking regime.

Ministers have today announced a suite of changes to the Fast-track Approvals Bill following widespread public outcry and tens of thousands of submissions to the Environment Select Committee calling out major problems with the proposed legislation.

Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, CEO of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) New Zealand, says the changes are a step in the right direction but still don’t go far enough to halt the devastation this legislation will unleash on Aotearoa’s environment.

“It’s good to see the Government is moving away from allowing three development-focused ministers to have the final say on which projects get the green light. But until there’s a significant overhaul of this destructive legislation, that’s nothing more than a band aid solution,” she says.

“The purpose of the Fast-track Bill is still to prioritise development above all else – even if that means destroying our wild landscapes or driving thousands of our beloved native species towards extinction.

“We need to see additional decision-making criteria to ensure impacts on our changing climate and threatened wildlife are properly considered as part of the consenting process – otherwise we’re simply just tinkering at the edges.”

Kingdon-Bebb has also urged the Government to show the public the full list of projects that have applied to be fast-tracked.

“The list of projects due to be fast-tracked is still shrouded in secrecy and we remain deeply concerned that zombie projects previously rejected by the Courts or independent experts on legitimate environmental grounds could be revived from the dead,” she says.

“The process by which Ministers have solicited fast-track applications – including via undisclosed dinners with mining executives – still smacks of cronyism, and the Bill in its current form strips communities up and down the country of the right to have their say.

“The changes made today are a good start, but we urgently need Ministers to release the full list of fast-track applications and progress some of the other equally sensible changes we have recommended. The tens of thousands of Kiwis who took to the streets of Auckland and their own hometowns to march for nature won’t sit by quietly until they do.”

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