CERA needs to be reviewed and improved
green-party
Wed Apr 13 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
CERA needs to be reviewed and improved
Wednesday, 13 April 2011, 12:24 pm
Press Release: Green Party
13 April 2011
CERA needs to be reviewed and improved
The people of Christchurch deserve to have their say on the CERA Bill before it is passed into law. The Bill is being rushed through Parliament this week with no input from the public, said the Green Party today.
“A one day review process with selected experts and no public input does not provide an opportunity for the people of Christchurch to have their say on the CERA Bill. It is better than no review at all, but not by much,” said Dr Kennedy Graham, Green Party Earthquake Recovery spokesperson.
“We do support giving oversight to a single entity over the rebuild, but it needs to be accountable to the people of Christchurch.
“The Government is rushing a Bill through Parliament that gives it unlimited powers for five years, allowing it to override any law in the country until 2016, which is clearly unnecessary.
“It is worth the Government taking a little more time to improve this Bill and get it right. CERA legislation needs to be put in place quickly but it doesn’t need to be this week.
“We want to give Canterbury all the help it needs, but unfortunately unless we can negotiate changes with the Government, we can’t vote for this badly designed Bill.
“As it stands Gerry Brownlee would be able override any law in the country without any Parliamentary oversight. For example, he could in theory completely rewrite the Crimes Act,” added Dr Graham. “We cannot see why the Minister should have the power to override laws that are unrelated to the recovery.”
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“We shall be putting in an amendment to ensure that the Minister can only change legislation which is relevant to the rebuild.
“We will also put in an amendment that requires cross-party consultation before laws can be suspended or waived.
“The Green Party has been working hard to promote a sustainable rebuild of Christchurch that provides for the residents affected to have their say. We hope that the Government will take a cross-party approach and provide for a more genuine engagement with the people of Christchurch in their Bill,” said Dr Graham.
The Green Party will be putting amendments to the Bill that include:
• Requiring community consultation on all the recovery plans, and any changes to the overarching strategy.
• Making the membership of the community forum independent from the Minister.
• Limiting the Minister’s and Chief Executive’s emergency powers to a 9 month period, after which their emergency powers will be limited to carrying out the Recovery Strategy.
• Ensuring there is an independent body to review proposals to waive or suspend legislation.
ENDS
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