The National Infrastructure Plan was published this week. It sets out a practical, affordable pathway to deliver the infrastructure New Zealanders need to thrive over the next 30 years.

At a high level, RMLA supports reform of New Zealand’s resource management system and considers the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill introduce a number of positive concepts and processes. However, as currently drafted, the Bills contain structural, procedural, and substantive issues that risk undermining certainty, efficiency, and the achievement of high-quality land use planning, development and environmental outcomes. Our submission therefore recommends targeted and, in some cases, material amendments to ensure the new system is legally robust, workable, and enduring.

Construction is starting on a sustainable green hydrogen facility in South Taranaki, supported by a $19.9 million government investment.

The Government will establish a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility to strengthen New Zealand’s energy security and support economic growth.

Environmental Defence Society Chief Executive Gary Taylor says, “The fear has been that the Fast-track Approvals Act would approve every application regardless of its environmental impacts. The draft decision on the Trans-Tasman Resources offshore mining project shows that’s not the case.”

EDS has released its draft submission on the two Resource Management Act replacement Bills ahead of the closing date.

The Ministry for the Environment publishes annual projections estimating New Zealand’s future greenhouse gas emissions to 2050. These projections were last published in October 2025.

The Government is contributing $7 million in funding to 16 Māori-led, marae-based climate projects.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has provided the Environment Committee with some preliminary questions members might want to consider as they scrutinise the Planning and Natural Environment Bills.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) welcomes three new members to its statutory Māori Advisory Committee, Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao.

Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has received advice from officials outlining options for dealing with reports of rockpools around Whangaparāoa Peninsula and other areas being stripped of marine life.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has written to Minister of Conservation, Hon Tama Potaka, regarding his recent decision to not accord conservation park status for KAW_17 Mount Rochfort, as part of the reclassification of West Coast stewardship lands.