DairyNZ has welcomed significant improvements made to the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill through the select committee process, while saying further work is needed to ensure the new system enables practical on farm decision making.
DairyNZ Chair Tracy Brown said the reported-back Bills showed the Government and select committee had listened to concerns raised by farmers and the wider agriculture sector.
“The recognition of food and fibre production in the goals of the Natural Environment Bill is an important and welcome change,” Tracy said.
“New Zealand’s resource management system needs to protect and improve the environment while recognising the essential contribution food and fibre producers make to our economy and regional communities.”
The select committee has also made significant changes to the framework for setting environmental limits.
The reported-back Bill clarifies that limits can take a range of measurable forms, including narrative or outcome-based limits. It also requires decision-makers to consider environmental, social and economic expectations, existing resource use and activities, naturally occurring processes and levels, and cost-benefit analysis.
“These are significant changes,” Tracy said.
“Recognising food and fibre production, allowing measurable narrative limits, and requiring decision-makers to consider naturally occurring processes, existing resource use and cost-benefit analysis should support a more balanced and workable system.
“They provide much stronger safeguards against unrealistic or purely aspirational limits being imposed without proper regard to what is achievable in a catchment or the consequences for farmers and communities.
The focus should be on delivering the environmental outcomes our communities are looking to achieve, recognising what is practically achievable in individual catchments and given existing resource use”.
DairyNZ also welcomes the removal of proposed comparative permitting and market-based tools for primary allocation, the restoration of controlled activities, and tighter safeguards around natural resource levies.
“The removal of untested allocation mechanisms is a sensible decision,” Tracy said.
“Farmers need a system that provides certainty and supports investment, rather than introducing complex new tools before their impacts are properly understood.”
The select committee has also clarified that non-regulatory measures should be considered when decisions are made about how activities are classified.
DairyNZ would like to see Freshwater Farm Plans play a key role as a practical alternative considered through that process.
“A key test of the new system will be whether Freshwater Farm Plans can reduce reliance on inefficient rules and repeated consenting, rather than becoming another layer of regulation,” Tracy said.
“However, the reported-back Bills do not yet provide a clear statutory pathway for certified farm plans to replace the need for consents where farm-specific risks can be effectively managed.”
DairyNZ also wants further work on how existing activities are treated in catchments where environmental limits are exceeded.
“Farmers need a clear and workable pathway for existing activities to continue while a commitment to environmental improvements occurs over time,” Tracy said.
DairyNZ’s policy experts will review the reported-back Bills in detail over the coming days and engage with farmers, other agricultural sector organisations, officials and Ministers on their practical implications.
“We will continue pushing for the remaining changes needed to ensure the new system works on farm and delivers durable environmental outcomes,” Tracy said.
“This is a significant improvement and shows that constructive engagement can make legislation more workable.
“The job is not finished, but the reported-back Bills provide a much stronger foundation for a system that can deliver environmental improvement, greater certainty and lower unnecessary regulatory costs for farmers.”
Media contact
Jacob Quinn
Corporate Communications and Media Manager
p: 027 716 4197
e: jacob.quinn@dairynz.co.nz
