There was international recognition in the 1980s that historical opposition between conservation and development should be put aside, and the concept of sustainable development emerged.
In 1981, I was a member of the team that produced the document “Integrating Conservation and Development ‒ a Proposal for a New Zealand Conservation Strategy.” The foreword provided by Venn Young, then minister of lands in the National government, said:
“At a time when further investment and diversification is being encouraged in the economic sector against a background of environmental concern, a strategy adopting a comprehensive approach and seeking to integrate conservation and development is appropriate.”
I find it ironic and disturbing that 43 years later, a National-led government is promoting its Fast-track Approvals Bill which is so contrary to this more enlightened view.
Rather than integrating environmental concerns, the procedures proposed under the bill appear to be deliberately designed to divorce, marginalise and minimise consideration of possible environmental and social consequences of major projects. We have been treated to the bizarre spectacle of senior ministers publicly deriding and ridiculing environmental groups and their concerns.
The proposed procedures under the bill will not make genuine
