The Luxon Government’s RMA reform and Natural Environment Bill will make it easier for companies kill kiwi and other protected wildlife.
The Luxon Government is dead set on making it even easier to kill kiwi.
Last year, it changed the law so companies could legally kill kiwi and other protected wildlife if they got a permit from the Department of Conservation (DOC).
Now it is going much further. Under its RMA overhaul the Government is proposing to make it even easier for companies to get permission to harm or kill protected species.
If you believe kiwi and other native species deserve more than to be treated like an expendable obstacle to corporate profit, now is the time to speak up.
Make your submission against this kiwi-killing plan before Friday, 13 February.
The rules that kept kiwi safe (until now)
Until last year, it was illegal to kill or harm kiwi and other protected wildlife except in rare cases where it was necessary to protect wildlife overall (for example, euthanising a sick animal to stop disease spreading).
But the Luxon Government made it legal for companies to kill kiwi and native wildlife for commercial activity like roads and mines – but only if they get a permit from DOC which can be denied under certain conditions.
Councils cannot give out resource consents to kill or harm protected wildlife under the RMA.
That separation is important. It means wildlife protection sits outside of resource consenting decisions and is governed by the Wildlife Act which has one clear purpose: to protect wildlife.
From protecting kiwi to approving their deaths
But under the Natural Environment Bill, which is set to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), the Government is proposing to:
- Override the Wildlife Act and bypass its safeguards
- Give councils the power to authorise killing and harming protected wildlife, including in wildlife sanctuaries
- Remove DOC as the decision-maker and pull wildlife “protection” into a system designed to prioritise corporate property rights over nature
Allowing Councils to approve killing protected species under the NEB and under pressure to approve development will dramatically reduce remaining wildlife protections in Aotearoa.
Councils simply do not have the specialist, species expertise required to assess impacts on protected wildlife or national oversight of conservation needs. That expertise sits with DOC.
The Government says this is to “reduce the burden on developers”. That framing is chilling.
Kiwi, kākā, bats, frogs and lizards are living precious beings. Treating them as a burden shows how far this proposal has drifted from the values New Zealanders hold.We cannot allow the Government to do this. Once a species is gone, it is gone forever. Extinction is irreversible. No offset. No future government decision can bring a species back.
Why your submission matters right now
Wildlife have a right to exist alongside us and future generations have a right to inherit a world as rich and thriving as the one we enjoy.
Biodiversity underpins the natural systems that support human life – from pollinating crops and regulating pests to protecting waterways and buffering floods and climate impacts. But when species are driven to extinction, those systems weaken.
We must work together to show this Government that kiwi and wildlife matter, and that some lines should not be crossed. Make your submission before Friday 4.30pm 13 February.
Add your name now to demand Chris Bishop abandon his dangerous RMA reform plan.
Sign the petition
