In a bizarre speech to the House last night on the RMA Amendment (Controlled and Discretionary Activities) Bill, Minister Hobbs displayed her true colours, ACT MP Owen Jennings said today.

"The Minister is more interested in protecting the revenue of councils than she is in the draconian costs faced by resource consents applicants, Owen Jennings said.

"The Minister not only failed to understand the detail of my Bill, but it became obvious to the House she doesn’t understand the RMA. The reasons she gave for voting against my bill are specious and display an ignorance of the facts unbecoming to her Ministerial office.

"My Bill was carefully constructed to reduce costs for Councils, ratepayers and applicants for resource consent. Had the Minister understood the current process she would know that most applicants pay for expert help in preparing a consent while the Council duplicates the process with its staff. My Bill would amongst other things remove that duplication.

"MPs in the House were horrified as the Minister stumbled through her speech trying to justify Labour’s opposition.

"It is clear that superficial ideology has overtaken common sense," Owen Jennings said.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>