Labour MP Meka Whaitiri is at the forefront of the Environmental Protection Authority Amendment Bill which narrowly passed its first reading last night with the support of the Māori Party and United Future.
According to Meka Whaitiri it is “a Bill that puts the environment squarely into legislation governing the Environmental Protection Authority.”
Amendments to the EPA Act could potentially see major implications to current operations surrounding environmental issues. National MPs indicated they would vote against the bill as it would impinge upon the EPA’s operational integrity.
Whaitiri says, "We want to ensure that such protections are at the heart of New Zealand’s environmental practices. This Bill will reinforce the role of the Environmental Protection Authority which is one of the cornerstones of conservation in Aotearoa.”
The positive handling of environmental issues by the EPA was evident in last month’s decision to decline the Trans-Tasman Resources mining application in south Taranaki waters.
Environment Minister Nick Smith, "Labour should be embarrassed that while in Government it allowed deep sea drilling and all sorts of other activities without any independent authority assessing the environmental effects.”
The Bill has been heavily criticised by Mr Smith who yesterday labelled the bill as a bad joke.
"This Bill is a bad joke and exposes just how shallow Labour's environment policies are. Labour seems to think that by repeating the words 'environment' and 'protection' in the law we will somehow magically save the kiwi, address our water quality challenges and eliminate greenhouse gases. Repeating the title of the Act in Clause 12 will do nothing," Dr Smith says.
Under Labour's bill the words “Environment and Protection” will essentially be added to the Environment Protection Authority Act, an aim which they claim isn't strongly emphasised in the Act despite it being a core objective.
The Bill was sent to the Local Government and Environment Committee by 61 to 60 with just National and ACT opposed.