Fast-track consenting faces familiar speed bumps, does slow and steady win?

Fast-track consenting faces familiar speed bumps, does slow and steady win?
Regional development minister Shane Jones proclaimed Freddy the frog's imminent demise - if it got in the way of development. (Image: NZME)
Dileepa Fonseka
Freddy the frog will be glad to hear he still has a few months left on the clock.Regional development minister Shane Jones once said it would be “goodbye Freddy” if a blind frog ended up in the path of a mining development, this and other rhetoric around the fast-track legislation prompted fears it would put a large amount of power in the hands of ministers.Companies scrambled to get their projects included in the list after expressions of interest were called for in February.In the end, the process does not look like it will be muc...

More Policy

Foreign investors show ‘increased interest’ in NZ
Policy

Foreign investors show ‘increased interest’ in NZ

Pension funds are reportedly cooling on the US. Could NZ stand to benefit?

Oliver Lewis 22 Apr 2025
Rise in liquidations compounded by IRD crackdown
Economy

Rise in liquidations compounded by IRD crackdown

The IRD filed two-thirds of creditor applications in the March quarter.

Gregor Thompson 22 Apr 2025
The cost of over-regulated banking: $10b to $14.4b a year
Finance

The cost of over-regulated banking: $10b to $14.4b a year

Critics claim a huge annual cost from 30 years of regulatory creep.

Pattrick Smellie 16 Apr 2025
Fast-track panels not out of blocks yet
Policy

Fast-track panels not out of blocks yet

The first three projects to go through the process are still waiting on panels.

Oliver Lewis 10 Apr 2025