PC1 will slash Waikato productivity – here’s how we fix it

PC1 as notified by Waikato Regional Council would require thousands of consents from farmers for everyday rural activities. The plan would restrict production in one of the most productive parts of the country – this makes no sense at a time when NZ has committed to double exports from primary production.

Then there are the knock-on effects for manufacturing, jobs, and the wider economy. Waikato Regional Council has not commissioned its own analysis of the economic impacts. They don’t want to know.

You might be wondering why the Government hasn’t stopped PC1. Here’s why:

PC1 gives effect to a 2010 Treaty settlement, meaning WRC is exempt from the plan-stop powers the Government could otherwise use to halt the process. That’s why this plan has kept grinding forward, even though landowners, farmers, and communities have made it clear they don’t want it.

To make matters worse, during COVID the elected councillors handed extraordinary powers to the Chief Executive – and they’ve never taken them back. It’s the unelected executive that has been pushing the harshest conditions on farmers, without telling councillors what’s really being offered to the Environment Court.

Then there’s the council’s leadership. Chair Pamela Storey holds the casting vote, and she almost never goes against Tainui or council officers. Instead of standing up for ratepayers, she’s rolled over – letting unelected bureaucrats and iwi representatives push their destructive, virtue-signalling agenda.

Their goal is not practical environmental management. Their goal is to impose the “most virtuous” plan in New Zealand, with no regard for voters, property rights, or the productive economy of the Waikato.

Here’s the good news: ACT in Government is overhauling the system that enables this madness. We are replacing the 900-page Resource Management Act with a new framework based on property rights, not co-governance. Treaty settlements will still stand, but under ACT’s narrowed system there will be much less scope for the likes of WRC to make these kinds of proposals, leaving people to enjoy and harness their land. We can protect our most special places while recognising the Waikato River doesn’t need to be drinkable from source to sea.

But replacing the RMA takes time. Until the new law is in place, WRC needs to:

• Suspend all work on PC1.

• Tell the Environmental Court it needs more time before finishing the plan.

• Commission an economic evaluation of the cost of imposing PC1, for approval by elected members.

ACT needs your help to make this happen. Email your elected WRC representatives and tell them to stop work on PC1. Tell them to stand up for ratepayers and exercise their democratic mandate.

With your support, ACT will finish the job – replacing the RMA, defending property rights, and ending co-governance.