The Conservation Minister is removing a controversial clause in a proposed law that would allow more conservation land to be sold.
Tama Potaka told the Environmental Defence Society conference the country's understanding of the Conservation Amendment Bill differed to his intention.
He blamed himself for that, saying he wasn't clear enough when he was explaining how land would be protected.
"Yes, it's on me, it's on us," he told RNZ.
"And that's why we've heard the people, we've listened, and we've taken action, and that's what political leadership requires."
Potaka had previously described the bill as the biggest change to conservation management in decades, saying it removed red tape and modernised how public conservation was managed.
Tama Potaka had previously described the bill as the biggest change to conservation management in decades. (Source: 1News)
One of the proposed changes – now being clawed back – would have allowed for the sale of an extra 2.8 million hectares of conservation land to be sold, on top of the 2.4 million hectares of stewardship land that was already eligible for sale.
The money raised from land sales would be reinvested back into conservation and biodiversity work.
Potaka said the bill did not include a plan to sell great swathes of conservation land, insisting it would only be "bits and bobs" - repeatedly pointing to examples like the MetService building in Wellington, and a gravel reserve surrounded by farmland on the West Coast.
But conservation groups and opposition parties said he was missing the point, because the bill creates a legal framework that could allow big chunks to be sold.
Potaka said the disposal and exchange provisions in the bill had generated a lot of interest.
"We've had no intention to sell off large parcels of land, but it seems that the words don't necessarily match our intentions," Potaka said.
He said maps circulated by Forest and Bird that illustrated the amount of land it believed would be opened up for sale and economic development, did not represent the Government's intentions.
"That's caused a bit of uncertainty, that's caused concern, and to be fair, a lot of ambiguity. So we've heard New Zealanders, we've listened to New Zealanders, and as a result, we're taking action."
Potaka said he would bring suggested changes to Cabinet which made improvements to the status quo, including better safeguards around the sale of land.
"We're going to approve the current process in the Conservation Act."
He said it was too soon to comment on what the bar would be for selling off conservation land.
New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones was at the conference alongside Potaka, and said his party supported Potaka's move.
"The reality is the scope was far too much for key members in the environmental community, and the broader community, to swallow," he said.
Jones said people accepted a desire for the conservation department to be more efficient, and for redundant pieces of land to be disposed of.
"But we don't want to open up some gaping wound that causes people to feel that there's a mass privatisation exercise about to be embarked upon."
He said Potaka would be suggesting improvements to the bill to allay public fears and allow DOC to be more efficient.
Potaka promised to work with others on other provisions in the bill, including those about economic development.
The proposed law would require the Department of Conservation to put economic opportunities front and centre when it made decisions about its land.
Potaka had previously described the bill as the biggest change to conservation management in decades, saying it removed red tape and modernised how public conservation was managed.
On Wednesday, he accused Forest and Bird of frightening people by spreading "deceitful" messages.
But Potaka also told reporters he was prepared to make changes to the bill having listening "very carefully and cautiously" to the community reaction.
"Absolutely, that's what democracy is all about," he said.
"If you think Tama's omniscient and omnipotent, you're probably not on the right planet. You're probably on Planet Tama."
The minister also told the EDS conference there was more work to be done on elements in the bill relating to an emphasis on economic development.
Environmentalists want entire bill binned
Greenpeace Aotearoa campaigner Gen Toop said Potaka's announcement did not go far enough, and called for the bill to be scrapped entirely.
"From start to finish this bill is rotten to its core. It must be thrown out immediately," she said.
"Even if National manages to convince its coalition partners to pull the land sales parts out - this bill would still make it easier for open cast mines, private resorts, gondolas, and shopping malls to degrade the wild places we all treasure."
That was as bad as selling the land, Toop said.
Nearly 50,000 had signed a Greenpeace petition calling for the bill to be abandoned, she said.
The Green Party said Potaka's announcement showed public pressure was working.
"This is a backdown forced by tens of thousands of New Zealanders who refused to let their wild places be put on the market," said co-leader Marama Davidson.
"The minister has finally heard them, but removing these clauses does not fix a bill that was built to serve developers instead of nature."
Davidson also had concerns about the provisions for economic development on the land, and said Potaka should scrap the bill and start again.
Forest & Bird's acting chief executive Erika Toleman said the backdown was an incredible win for the people of Aotearoa.
She warned even with the sales proposal gone, there was still a risk land could be sold due to an economic clause in the bill.
The clause proposes adding a new core purpose for the Department of Conservation (DOC) to put economic opportunities front and centre when making decisions to the "greatest extent practicable".
"It enables the change of land status of various types of conservation land, which means they can be revoked, or passed out of the conservation estate," Toleman said.
Potaka said the wording of this clause would be considered, but that economic development would still be included somehow.
Toleman was hopeful Forest & Bird would be involved in discussions about this before the bill reaches select committee.
"If economic development is going to be recognised in the purpose of DOC, it needs to be in a hierarchy where protection of conservation values sits right at the top."
Submissions on the bill close on July 2.
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