The Polluters Get Paid Plan: AKA Regulatory Relief / Regulatory Takings

How the Government is pushing an extreme idea that would block environmental protection and reshape our democracy.

What if polluters could demand a payout just for being told to stop polluting?

That’s exactly what the Government is proposing in its rewrite of our core environmental law – the Resource Management Act (RMA).

They’re proposing the outrageous idea that the public should have to pay compensation to corporations if new environmental rules eat into their profits.

The public should never have to pay companies to stop polluting drinking water, cutting down ancient native forests, killing wildlife, or emitting dangerous toxins into the air.

But this Government plans to flip the basic polluter pays principle on its head, so that corporations that pollute the environment and harm nature won’t pay for the damage they cause, they’ll get paid.

They’re calling this toxic idea “regulatory relief” or “regulatory takings”. They are trying to put it straight into the heart of our country’s environmental law, giving corporations a powerful new tool to stop Councils protecting the environment and acting in the public interest.

Together, we need to stop them. Make your submission now before 13 Feb.

What the “Polluters Get Paid” Plan means in practice

Tairāwhiti has been hit hard by forestry slash and erosion over the past few years causing severe damage to rivers, infrastructure and communities. But if Gisborne wants stronger forestry rules, local ratepayers could be forced to pay ‘compensation’ to the very offshore forestry companies responsible for destructive slash and erosion.

It will affect our big cities too. For example, Auckland ratepayers could have to pay developers to stop them from cutting down native forest in the Waitākere Ranges, destroying wildlife habitat and risking the city’s drinking water sources.

The Government’s plan is to make Councils pay compensation to corporations for environmental protection rules that impact a company’s land value or “development potential”. These are rules we need to stop companies from:

Polluting rivers, lakes and drinking water
Releasing dangerous toxins into the air near homes or schools
Felling ancient forests, draining wetlands and clearing habitats crucial for the survival of native wildlife

Faced with these compensation payouts councils have two bad choices:
1) Back down from bringing in environmental protections at all

2) Use ratepayer cash to pay up – potentially by raising rates, cutting essential services like libraries and pools, or delaying investment in climate resilience.

An Imported Ideology that Doesn’t Belong in Aotearoa

Regulation exists to protect us – to stop profiteering corporations from destroying ecosystems, polluting our air and water, and driving climate breakdown.

Our laws have never accepted the idea that when governments act to protect the environment or people’s wellbeing then the public should pay off the polluters. This extreme ideology is imported from the US, where corporate lobbyists argue any rule protecting the public or environment is a “taking” from corporate profit margins requiring “relief”.

This is deeply unjust. For decades, many industries have imposed pollution and environmental damage on communities without a cent of compensation paid to the public. In fact, the public is often left to carry the costs of cleaning up after companies who have pocketed the profits.

And it is a disturbingly similar idea to the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses in international trade agreements – which the UN says have allowed fossil fuel companies to sue governments for billions when climate laws threaten their profits.

Fairness Means Polluters Should Pay – Not Get Paid

This isn’t just about environmental law – it’s about who we are as a country. Are we a country where fairness matters, where government works for us and where we work together to protect the land, rivers and wildlife?

Or are we going to let the ACT party turn Aotearoa into a country where corporations call the shots, and polluters get payouts while the rest of us pay the price?

Together, let’s reject the Polluters Get Paid Plan and resist imported ideologies that prioritise corporate property rights over people and planet.

Make your submission before 13 Feb. Spread the word. This is a fight we can’t afford to lose.