{"id":78916,"date":"2026-09-23T08:10:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T20:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/?p=78916"},"modified":"2026-09-23T13:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T01:44:17","slug":"rma-reaction-government-demolishes-cornerstone-of-environmental-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/press-release\/rma-reaction-government-demolishes-cornerstone-of-environmental-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"RMA reaction: Government demolishes cornerstone of environmental protection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Greenpeace says the Coalition Government has committed one of its most destructive acts against nature this term, last night pushing through legislation replacing the Resource Management Act (RMA) in the final sitting days of Parliament.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more than three decades, the RMA has been New Zealand\u2019s overarching legal framework governing how land, water, air and other natural resources are used and protected. It has now been replaced by the Natural Environment Act and the Planning Act.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop says the significance of what the Coalition Government has just done cannot be overstated.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe RMA was New Zealand\u2019s main environmental law. It was designed to protect our air and water from contamination, and our forests, wildlife and coastlines from degradation. That protection has just been well and truly ripped to shreds.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese new laws allow companies to cause more pollution, contamination and environmental degradation in Aotearoa. If these laws are not repealed by the next Government, we will be living with the environmental damage they enable long into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Created in 1991, the RMA brought previously separate laws protecting air, water, soil and the environment into one integrated system. The 1991 reforms began under Labour but the RMA was ultimately passed into law by the incoming National Government.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUntil today, there had been an enduring recognition across political lines that New Zealand needed a strong, overarching environmental law to put boundaries around pollution and degradation. What happened today is a profound departure from that consensus,\u201d says Toop.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn behalf of polluting industries, after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepost.co.nz\/politics\/361079040\/how-big-farm-lobbyists-helped-rewrite-new-rma-laws\">private backroom meetings with corporate lobbyists<\/a>, the Coalition Government has completed a hostile takeover of our cornerstone environmental law.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey have replaced it with a system designed to protect corporate profits rather than protect the environment. They have even reversed the well-established polluter-pays principle. The public will now end up paying polluters instead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The new laws introduce a new scheme in which ratepayers could be forced to pay companies &#8220;compensation&#8221; for environmental protection rules. The Government\u2019s own report has estimated this could cost councils up<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/politics\/government-scraps-existing-iwi-agreements-as-rma-reform-enters-final-stages\/premium\/MSUC3BEFNZGZJGTNSZWTGIGNLQ\/\"> to $2 billion.&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/story\/five-reasons-the-new-rma-bills-should-alarm-everyone-in-new-zealand\/\">Greenpeace says they also render environmental limits legally meaningless<\/a>, scrap existing iwi agreements, stop councils from introducing stronger local protections like bans on destructive fishing practices, restrict public participation and M\u0101ori involvement in environmental decision-making, and weaken protections for native wildlife.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAotearoa already has polluted rivers, contaminated drinking water, disappearing wildlife and a worsening climate crisis. We desperately needed stronger environmental protection. Instead, this Government has ripped the country&#8217;s cornerstone environmental law apart,\u201d says Toop.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese new laws will make it easier for data centres, mines, feedlots, fish farms and other commercial activities to get consent, even where environmental impacts would be devastating. They also ban local councils from introducing desperately needed marine protections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter the election, these laws must be repealed as a matter of urgency, before they are enacted on the ground and lead to irreversible environmental damage.\u201d<\/p>\n\t\t\t<section\n\t\t\tclass=\"boxout post-69808 \"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Image\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"cover-card-overlay\"\n\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/petition-stop-the-corporate-power-grab-rma-reforms\/\" \n\t\t\t><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature-1024x535.jpg\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature-600x314.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature-768x401.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature-1536x803.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature-510x266.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-aotearoa-stateless\/2025\/08\/c9ef1bfd-stop-chris-bishops-hostile-takeover-of-nature.jpg 1600w\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tsizes=\"(min-width: 1000px) 358px, (min-width: 780px) 313px, 88px\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\talt=\"Former Big Tobacco lobbyist turned Minister, Chris Bishop, is planning to rewrite our core environmental protection law - the RMA - to gut protections for nature, erase the Treaty of Waitangi, and turn land ownership into a license to pollute. And for the first time in New Zealand\u2019s history, he\u2019s trying to give corporations the power to sue future governments for introducing new environmental protections. The RMA reforms are the feral cousin to the Fast Track Act and the Treaty Principles Bill - Barging in, uninvited, to make a mess of Aotearoa.\" title=\"Former Big Tobacco lobbyist turned Minister, Chris Bishop, is planning to rewrite our core environmental protection law - the RMA - to gut protections for nature, erase the Treaty of Waitangi, and turn land ownership into a license to pollute. And for the first time in New Zealand\u2019s history, he\u2019s trying to give corporations the power to sue future governments for introducing new environmental protections. The RMA reforms are the feral cousin to the Fast Track Act and the Treaty Principles Bill - Barging in, uninvited, to make a mess of Aotearoa.\"\n\t\t\t\t\/>\n            \t\t\t<div class=\"boxout-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"boxout-heading medium\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-action=\"Title\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/petition-stop-the-corporate-power-grab-rma-reforms\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPETITION: Stop the corporate power grab RMA reforms\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"boxout-excerpt\">Add your name now to demand Chris Bishop abandon his dangerous RMA reform plan.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t                                    <a\n                        class=\"btn btn-primary\"\n                        data-ga-category=\"Take Action Boxout\"\n                        data-ga-action=\"Call to Action\"\n                        data-ga-label=\"n\/a\"\n                        href=\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/aotearoa\/petition\/petition-stop-the-corporate-power-grab-rma-reforms\/\"\n                        \n                    >\n                        Sign the petition\n                    <\/a>\n                \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The replacement RMA laws will allow companies to cause more pollution, contamination and environmental degradation in Aotearoa. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":77517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_seo_meta_title":"","p4_seo_meta_description":"","p4_campaign_name":"","p4_local_project":"","p4_basket_name":"","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[41],"p4-page-type":[7],"class_list":["post-78916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-greenpeace","tag-biodiversity","p4-page-type-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.8 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RMA reaction: Government 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