Officials warn David Seymour's Regulatory Standards Bill could be more expensive than thought
Officials have warned David Seymour's Regulatory Standards Bill could be much more expensive than previous estimates suggested, and could lead to business uncertainty, slowing economic growth. Political reporter Russell Palmer spoke to Corin Dann.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
IKEA cagey about opening date for first NZ store this year
IKEA's new store at Sylvia Park is taking shape. Photo: Supplied Global furniture giant IKEA is due to open its first New Zealand store in Auckland some time this year, but has not yet told Auckland Council when. IKEA said it was still on track to open at Sylvia Park and had so far employed 85 of the 500 staff it needed. Within at least two months of opening, IKEA has to provide the council with an opening date and managment plan, but a council spokesperson confirmed it was still waiting to receive this information. The consent conditions for the big box retailer required it to submit an plan that detailed how it would manage the anticipated crowds expected to drive there. "No less than two months prior to the scheduled opening date of the Ikea store, the consent holder must prepare and submit a store opening management plan to Auckland Council for written certification," the consent decision stated. "The purpose of the plan is to set out the measures to be adopted to manage effects on the transportation network during the first three months following the opening of the store." IKEA has yet to announce its opening day, but indicated it would be in time for Christmas . The council indicated that, before an official store opening, it wanted Ikea to open online to manage anticipated demand and have a soft opening to test traffic management. It advised IKEA to avoid opening on public holidays, Fridays, weekends, Black Friday or Boxing Day. The council asked Ikea to provide details about "incentives to travel to the site by transport modes other than private vehicle, such as bus, train and active modes", as well as "comprehensive information provided to the public on travel routes to and from the store". Ikea must provide at least 54 bicycle parks and 543 carparks, and submit a travel plan to the council that shows how it would encourage employees and customers to use public transport, walk or cycle to the store. Construction began on the 34,000 square metre store in 2023 and the iconic blue building is taking shape at Sylvia Park . The ground level will be a carpark, with the store spread across two floors, including its Swedish restaurant that will sell meatballs and hotdogs. The retailer is still recruiting for its anticipated. IKEA people and culture manager Lauren Clegg said 15,000 people had applied for advertised roles by the end of May. She said 85 people had been employed so far and more roles would be advertised this month, attracting thousands of applicants. "There does seem to be a lot of people that are between jobs at the moment or struggling to get into work," she said. "I think we're in a really tough time in New Zealand, with the market at the moment, and that's probably contributing to some of our numbers." Clegg said the IKEA opening had caused excitement. "We're definitely on track to open late 2025, but the exact opening date is very under wraps for now." IKEA would continue to release and advertise for roles until November. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Announcement of an announcement': Govt accused of recycling projects in $6b infrastructure push
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. File photo. Photo: AFP / NurPhoto /Jakub Porzycki The opposition has dismissed the government's infrastructure announcement as a public relations stunt, while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the projects will create thousands of jobs and improve the nation's productivity. On Sunday, Luxon joined Minister for Economic Growth Nicola Willis and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop at Drury near Auckland's southern border, where the population was forecast to swell over the next few decades, to launch an infrastructure update showing $6 billion of government-funded construction due to get underway before the end of the year. The projects included the construction of a new acute mental health unit at Hutt Valley Hospital, seismic strengthening of the Parliamentary Library, and long-awaited upgrades to SH76 Brougham St in Christchurch. Bishop said there were almost $4b of roading projects in the list of work getting underway, including the Ōtaki to north of Levin expressway, the Melling interchange, the Waihoehoe Road upgrade, and the new Ōmanawa bridge on SH29. The projects would create thousands of jobs and lift productivity by getting people and freight to their destinations quickly and safely, Bishop said. But Green Party infrastructure spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said spending billions of dollars on roading projects would not solve the country's productivity crisis. Green Party infrastructure spokesperson Julie Anne Genter. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver "They're trying to distract from the fact their actions cancelling heaps of projects has led to a crisis in the construction industry here in Aotearoa, where last month almost a third of business liquidations were construction companies. "The coalition government has cancelled far more projects than any other government that I'm aware of. They cancelled the ferries, they've cancelled lots of public house builds, and other decisions they've made to cut public spending have led to a longer and deeper recession. "This is really a government trying to govern with PR stunts and slogans, and no real commitment to solving the challenges we're facing." A majority of New Zealanders wanted to take action on climate change, so getting off fossil fuels and onto more sustainable transport was a win-win that would do more for productivity, she said. Willis said the projects due to get underway included new roads, hospitals, schools, high-tech laboratories and other government buildings. "That means spades in the ground, jobs throughout the country and a stronger economy." Improving New Zealand's infrastructure was critical to growing the economy and helping with the cost of living, Willis said. Luxon said the government was "on the side of the Kiwis who need roads to get to their jobs at the crack of dawn, deliver essential goods like food and get their kids to school." He said the government would partner with the private sector "where it made sense". "We're obviously are doing a huge amount of investment ourselves as government, but it's a combination of both of those things." Labour's infrastructure spokesperson Kieran McAnulty characterised the announcement as nothing more than a distraction. "Just this morning... the Associate Housing Minister [Tama Potaka] finally admitted the government's policies have contributed to an unprecedented rise in homelessness and the best distraction they can come up with is an announcement of an announcement - I think that speaks volumes," McAnulty said. Labour's infrastructure spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker "There's nothing new in today's announcement. People knew that was happening, and some of it was actually started under the previous government. What the infrastructure sector actually want is certainty ... because we've already lost 15,000 workers in construction, many of them have gone to Australia, and every week we've got civil construction firms going under because of the lack of work. "Today's re-announcement isn't going to help any of those people. "It would have been preferable for the government to announce new work, or bring projects and maintenance work forward to give firms confidence and certainty, so they can either keep their workers or attract them back." References to private investment and collaboration rang hollow, McAnulty said. "We've been hearing the government talking about public-private partnerships since the day they came in - we still haven't seen any of them signed or underway. I'd like to see the government actually come up with something tangible." "Announcing things and making a big deal about things that they already had been announced or underway under the previous government is not going to give people the certainty they want," he said. Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett welcomed the announcement, which he said came at a time when the industry was "bleeding capability". Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett. Photo: RNZ/ Tom Kitchin An Infrastructure New Zealand survey found 65 percent of firms had reduced staff over the past twelve months, and nearly half had lost workers to overseas markets. "New Zealand has an infrastructure deficit, and we need our skilled workforce here to close it." He said the country has a "perennial problem" with start-stops when it comes to building infrastructure, and he wanted to see a more "bipartisan approach". Leggett acknowledged the projects announced were not new, but said the industry association's focus was on the increase in projects underway by December this year, compared to last year. "And we're hopeful that in December of 2026, there'll be even more work. "We've got very skilled, professional people in different parts across the infrastructure industry that are keen to get their teeth into those projects announced today, some of them, of course, have been paused or cancelled previously. But the point is they're going to be in the market quickly." He wanted to see more work on smoothing out the infrastructure pipeline. "What we need to do is get agreed on what the pipeline looks like and never have the kind of stops we've seen in the last decade or so that pause or cancel projects. "Our economy needs this stimulus, and it needs these projects so people can get health and education results and be able to move around on transport projects that actually get built rather than just get argued over." The full list of projects due to get underway this year includes: The government said there was also a small number of "significant projects" which could not be named for "a range of commercial reasons", but were included in the $6b total. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Environment Canterbury's chair rebuffs government's directive to stop planning
Environment Canterbury (ECan) chairperson Craig Pauling. Photo: David Hill / North Canterbury News Councils have been urged "not to stop the planning" despite the government saying plan changes are a waste of ratepayers' money . Environment Canterbury (ECan) chairperson Craig Pauling said the work of local government still needs to continue . ''At ECan we've already been impacted by stops to planning and I am personally disappointed some good things in our Regional Policy Statement, which would have made a difference, can't happen.'' The policy statements provide an overview of resource management issues in a region. Resource Management Act (RMA) Reform Minister Chris Bishop this week announced the government would halt changes to district and regional plans . It comes ahead of a shake-up of the RMA, which is expected to come into effect in 2027. Pauling made his comments during a panel discussion at the Local Government NZ conference on Thursday, July 17. ''I would encourage you not to stop the planning. Don't stop thinking. You've got to do the analysis. ''Keep the thinking going, so when things do land you are in the best position.'' ECan voted in November to put its RPS on hold until January 2026, while it awaits more certainty with RMA reform. It has been unable to adopt a plan change to fix issues in the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan, following a Supreme Court decision on a water bottling plant in Christchurch in 2023. Environment Canterbury chairperson Craig Pauling (second left) and on screen takes part in a panel discussion during the Local Government NZ conference. Photo: David Hill / North Canterbury News There has been speculation the RMA reform could lead to regional councils being scrapped, but both Bishop and Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said no decision had been made. Bishop, who met with regional council chairs during the conference, indicated an announcement was likely by the end of the year. Pauling said it made sense to consider the shape of local government alongside the RMA reform, as regional councils came into being in 1989, in anticipation of the RMA, which was enacted in 1991. He admitted there were flaws with the present model, as local and regional councils didn't always work together. ''My personal view is separating land-use between city and regional councils was wrong. We've had so many occasions when land-use has been consented non-notified and then it needs water table allocations (from the regional council).'' LGNZ passed a remit at its annual general meeting calling for a review of local government functions and governance arrangements. Its chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said local government needed to be proactive and lead the changes required. Under existing legislation there are only two alternatives for regional government - regional councils and unitary authorities. Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting, Pauling said more options were needed, as different regions had different challenges. Canterbury is much larger than other regions, has more braided rivers and catchments, a centrally located population and sparsely populated districts such as Kaikōura, Hurunui, Mackenzie and Waimate. ''We need to be having the conversation and asking the questions. Would Kaikōura and Waimate survive as unitary authorities?'' Splitting the region into three - North, Mid and South Canterbury has been mooted - but Pauling thinks it would be ''problematic''. South Canterbury would likely be the largest unitary authority in the country in terms of geography, but with a population of only 60,000. The Hurunui district alone is the same size as Taranaki and half the size of Auckland, but with a much smaller population. A Christchurch or Greater Christchurch unitary authority has also been mooted, but questions have been raised about whether the rest of Canterbury would have a sufficient ratepayer base to manage regional council functions. Pauling said he believed it would be ''unworkable''. Another option, which ECan councillors considered at a recent workshop, was a Canterbury or South Island Assembly. This was based on the Greater Manchester model, where the existing local councils could continue and the mayors or council representatives and Mana Whenua representatives could form an assembly to make regional decisions. Whatever is decided, Pauling said local communities need to be involved in the decision making ''or it wouldn't fly''. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
