Cabinet Minister Chris Bishop has made "no apologies" in an interview with Q+A regarding the controversial fast-track process that would override previous court decisions blocking large-scale projects for environmental reasons.
National's MP for Hutt South holds several key portfolios in the coalition government including Housing, Infrastructure and RMA Reform.
The new fast-track consent process would "unclog" the country from green tape holding us back, Bishop said.
Projects will become eligible for fast track through one of two ways – referral by joint decision of the Ministers of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Transport, or by being listed as a project in Schedule 2A of the bill.
Once it has been referred into the fast-track process, it will be considered by an expert panel who will apply relevant consent and permit conditions with a maximum of six months to make the decision.
The project will then be sent back to joint ministers to either approve the project with conditions or decline the project. Ministers will also be able to refer a project back to a panel if they determine the conditions recommended are too onerous.
Projects such as fish farms, new dams, new roads, seabed mining and coal mining could all be approved under the new process.
Bishop rejects the binary idea that you can "either have the economy or the environment", believing that both can be achieved.
"Well the downsides are I think relatively obvious to everybody in that depending on the nature of the project there will be an impact on the environment. But it's all about how you mitigate that, how you limit that."
Bishop said he made "no apologies" for the changes.
"We are deliberately disrupting the system. The status quo is failing New Zealand."
He said he has received emails and letters from people lobbying for projects, which would be made public under the Official Information Act if requested.
"People are excited about fast track, there's people out there who want to use the law."
Emergency housing should be a 'last resort'
Bishop told Q+A that he would like to see the number of people on the social housing wait list, currently sitting at over 25,000, "significantly lower than it is now".
"There are too many people in severe and urgent need of housing."
He said that the decision to move families with children on the wait list to the front of the queue was a "first step" in fixing emergency housing.
"That is a disaster waiting to happen in terms of life outcomes for those kids."
Applicants spend 26 weeks in emergency housing on average, Bishop said, with that number higher for families.
A "multifaceted solution" would involve the construction of more houses and social houses, freeing up the rental market and making rent more affordable, Bishop said.
"There is a whole suite of things we've got to do across the housing continuum to improve housing in New Zealand."
He characterised the difference between the two major parties being that National is "much more agnostic" when it comes to who owns social houses, preferring to "supercharge providers" rather than funnelling resources to government agency Kāinga Ora.
"There's no shortage of good ideas and there's no shortage of good, passionate, warm-hearted people out there who do an excellent job of working with our most at-risk communities."
He said he believes government's role is to figure out how it can support them to "fire on all cylinders".
"We need to grow social housing supply in New Zealand, but there's a range of ways to do that."
When asked about last week's announcement of increased scrutiny for emergency housing applicants, Bishop said the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) would be "invigilating" people more by asking them more questions about where else they could stay.
"Going to a motel should not be the first choice for people who need support."
Emergency housing began under the previous National government as a "short-term measure", and Bishop said that he would like to see it return to being a "last resort" and "final port of call" for those who need it.
Tightening eligibility would mean some people would miss out on emergency housing due to an "abuse of rights and privileges", Bishop said, quoting anecdotal feedback of people trashing motel rooms.
"The taxpayer at some point has to say, we're not funding your bad lifestyle choices."
National pulled out of a rare show of bipartisanship last year in the form of the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS), which would have allowed up to three homes three storeys high to be built on most sites in New Zealand's main towns and cities with no need for resource consents.
Bishop said councils would now be given the option to "opt out" of these standards — given they provide zoning for 30 years of housing growth.
"We want to live zone thirty years of immediate growth, flood the market with development opportunities, drive down land prices at the edge of cities and inside cities, so we're just taking the time to get that right."
An announcement on this would be made before the Budget, he added.
This coincides with long-term council plan changes in three of our biggest cities — Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Auckland and Christchurch argue that they already have zoned for 30 years of development, but Bishop said it's "unlikely" this will lead to no change under the plan.
Flood response and exclusion of land for the now-defunct Auckland Light Rail project made the situation for the supercity "more challenging", he said.
When asked if there was anything stopping councils from focusing the 30 years of growth in areas far from city centres, Bishop said that a "graduated approach" could be considered to balance urban and green fields development.
He reiterated a target for house-price-to-income multiples to more than halve to between three to five times income over the next 10 to 20 years.
Q+A with Jack Tame is made with the support of New Zealand on Air
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