Environment Ministry axed on 30 June
In the year we should be wishing the Ministry for the Environment a happy 40th birthday they were legislated out of existence on 30 June 2026 by the current Government. This is another step backwards in environmental policies and forgets the lessons of the 1970s and early 1980s which led to the creation of the Ministry for the Environment. ECO thanks all the staff who have worked at MFE over the last 40 years.
ECO worked with like-minded organisations for the establishment of the Ministry for the Environment so that environmental issues stopped being buried within another agency, ignored by governments, and to give legal status to the then Commission for the Environment and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Procedures (EP&EP).
We hope that the transparency continues between the different parts of the new Ministry and is not buried so that the new Ministry of Cities Environment Regions and Transport publish information when Cities and Environment or transport and environment part of the agency disagree. Sadly, we suspect that may be an unrealistic hope. ECO hopes that a future governments revisits this short-sighted decision.
See: Ministry for the Environment scrapped in Parliament vote:
Fisheries Amendment Bill delayed
Fisheries Bill delay opens the door for a major reset – the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, Shane Jone, and MPI could start with some meaningful consultation and discussion with all parties including environmental groups.
ECO in its submission called for the bill to be withdrawn and that there be further consultation on the issues raised. Withdrawing the Bill would be a good start to that process.
Energy Strategy axed
The government quietly drops the energy strategy after consulting on it. New Zealand really needs an energy strategy which is is a transition to a carbon zero renewable energy system, includes energy conservation and efficiency of use, and accelerates the reduction in imported fuel. There are lots of options with low environmental footprint which are much cheaper than imported LNG.