The Herald’s political and specialist reporters examine the big issues facing New Zealand and how the main political parties plan to deal with them. Today, Jamie Morton looks at environmental issues beyond climate change. 

Amid a political race centred on the economy, Queenstown’s recent gastro bug outbreak offered a stark reminder that a focal point of elections past – our water quality woes - hasn’t gone anywhere. 

Water – whether it’s what we swim in, drink, store or pipe away – proved a battleground issue in 2017′s “environment election”, which came on the back of surveys showing two-thirds of monitored river sites unsafe for a dip. 

The latest national stocktake, published just last month, showed that headline fact hadn’t changed – nor had troubling trends plighting many of our lakes – and researchers similarly have big ongoing concerns about the state of our drinking water. 

While about 78 per cent of nationally assessed supplies met all standards, recent disasters like Havelock North and Queenstown’s outbreaks have pointed to the risk of contamination to our ageing infrastructure. 

Studies have also been shining a light on nitrate contamination: one recent paper found 60 per cent of our freshwater sources had concentrations above a threshold considered to pose higher health risks. 

The Labour-led government’s main policy response to clean up our waterways had come with its Essential Freshwater programme, including new environmental standards, mandated farm plans and more stringent rules around fencing and nitrogen loss – and its overhaul of the Resource Management Act. 

When the package was released in 2020, however, critics were quick to point out a lack of limits for dissolved reactive phosphorus, and also dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) - for which delayed plans to set a bottom-line for were eventually abandoned. 

At the core of the Government’s contentious and recently rebranded Three Waters reforms, meanwhile, was the Water Services Entity Act, establishing a new independent regulator, Taumata Arowai. 

The reforms also set up 10 new publicly-owned entities around the country to start delivering water services by mid-2026 at the latest (the Government originally proposed four entities, with a 2024 start date). 

On the thorny issue of water allocation, the Government was relying on a new Freshwater Working Group to provide a report within a year, as required by the new laws. 

National and Act have pledged to overhaul Labour's three waters reforms. 

As it has long promised, National would repeal and replace the reforms with its own plan, called “Local Water Done Well”, that effectively put water services back in the hands of local councils. 

In rural communities, it has signalled it would amend the proposed national environmental standard for drinking water, to reduce compliance costs for small providers of 30 connections or fewer - and would also amend stock exclusion rules around waterways. 

The party had no plans to mandate changes to water pricing models or prices - but would still require councils to deliver plans for how they would offer services that met water quality and infrastructure investment rules, while staying financially sustainable. 

While it supported keeping Taumata Arowai in place, National would refocus the regulator solely on water quality, for which the body would set standards councils would need to adhere to. 

Act, too, wants water infrastructure in local council hands – and the national regulator focused on setting “science-based regulatory standards” for safe drinking water. 

On water quality, New Zealand First supported regional council-administered, catchment-level farm environment plans – and wanted “four wellbeing” provisions (environmental, social, economic, cultural) reinstated in reforms. 

Te Pāti Māori, meanwhile, argued against the Crown’s long-held “everyone owns water” position on water, and argued for Māori proprietary, customary and decision-making rights to be acknowledged. 

It also wanted boosted funding for Te Mana o te Wai – something New Zealand First wanted replaced in RMA reforms - and a moratorium on new water bottling plants until a new allocations system was developed. 

The Greens supported a lower cap on nitrogen application on farms, which it said would help reduce leaching into aquifers, along with a phase-out of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and stricter limits around nitrate nitrogen standards in drinking water. 

While the party saw the need for larger entities more capable of delivering water services, it remained opposed to some of the three waters legislation, arguing that it “corporatised” provision, and reduced local voice while increasing ministerial powers. 

Elsewhere in the environment space, the Greens wanted more funding and support for the Predator Free 2050 goal; a commitment to doubling the extent of natural wetlands by 2050 and continued funding for the Government’s Jobs for Nature programme. 

New Zealand's Predator Free 2050 programme aims to wipe out all rats, stoats and possums in the country by 2050. 

The party also backed a reform of the Wildlife and Reserves Acts - including giving effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi – along with a ban on new mining in conservation land, and all revenue from the visitor levy to be ring-fenced for conservation and biodiversity projects. 

Labour similarly remained committed to the 2050 predator-free project, as was National, and both parties supported feral cats being added to the hit list. 

National’s also pledged to grant “managed access” to public land for hunters and fishers, designate “herds of special interest”, and change the law so game animals were no longer classified as pests. 

To better maintain and manage New Zealand’s 900 back-country huts, the party has proposed a new partnership programme between DOC and volunteer clubs. 

Act also argued for hunting access to conservation land – along with “economic activities” within it, like mining, which would need to come with a “net conservation improvement” - and not carried out in National Parks or in places where there were unique ecosystems. 

At the same time, Act opposed Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) - National’s position was simply to narrow the scope of what land could be designated as these – and instead favoured a fund for councils and the QEII Trust helping landowners to put land into covenants. 

Te Pāti Māori argued for conservation land to be returned to whānau, hapū and iwi - and also extend the ban on mining on conservation land to include reserves and SNAs. 

Away from land, Labour has already committed to expanding protection in the Hauraki Gulf, and this month announced six new marine reserves for the South Island. 

The Greens wanted New Zealand’s marine protections widened further to cover 30 per cent of our oceans, along with cameras on all commercial fishing boats, and a ban on dredging and set netting by 2028. 

The party further proposed to set up an independent ocean commission and, like Te Pāti Māori, favoured a ban on seabed mining. 

But the Greens remained cagey when it came to a significant easing of New Zealand’s stringent regulations around gene-editing technology - and said any law change “must be based on public agreement and understanding and sound science”. 

National has promised major reform – it saw gene-editing as a way to help meet our climate goals and potentially unlock access to breakthrough tech in medicine and conservation – while the Labour government’s own recent regulatory review has been largely limited to lab settings and biomedical therapies. 

Environment: The Policies 

Labour 

*Implement new resource management and freshwater reforms 

*Ban bottom-trawling in most of Hauraki Gulf and set up six new marine reserves in South Island. 

*Implement the Predator Free 2050 strategy and the National Predator Control programme. 

*Develop a “biodiversity credit system” to incentivise and reward landowners for protecting native flora and fauna. 

*Pass new waste legislation and work toward goals including a 10 per cent per person reduction of material entering the waste management system, along with a 30 per cent reduction in biogenic methane emissions from waste. 

National 

*Repeal and replace the three waters reforms with a plan putting water services back in council hands, while refocusing the new regulator solely on water quality and requiring councils to deliver plans on water infrastructure. 

*Reduce stock exclusion zones for small water bodies. 

*Create a minister for hunting and fishing, designate herds of special interest, change the law so game animals are not pests, and guarantee access to public land for hunting and fishing. 

*Set up a new partnership programme between DoC and volunteer clubs to manage and maintain back country huts. 

*Narrow the scope of what can be designated Significant Natural Areas 

*Require DoC to make concession decisions for tourism businesses within a year 

*Reform laws around gene-editing technology 

Greens 

*Ban synthetic nitrogen fertilisers over time, set limits on nitrogen in waterways and implement stricter standards for nitrate-nitrogen in drinking water 

*Implement Te Mana o te Wai for water management and “a fair system” for commercial water allocation 

*Reform the Wildlife and Reserves Acts, including to give effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi, and ringfence all proceeds of the visitor levy for conservation and biodiversity projects. 

*Boost funding and support for Predator Free 2050 and review and continue funding for Jobs for Nature 

*Ban new mining on conservation land, including stewardship land, as well as at sea 

*Double the extent of natural wetlands (by 2050) and expand marine protected areas to cover 30 per cent of New Zealand’s oceans 

*Ban set netting and dredging by 2028, require cameras on all commercial fishing vessels and establish an independent ocean commission 

*Establish a zero waste agency and a beverage container return scheme, implement a right to repair for consumer products and increase the landfill levy. 

Act 

*Reverse the three water reforms so that water assets are retained by councils, introduce a pricing system for water allocation, remove Te Mana o te Wai from freshwater resource consenting 

*Reform resource management laws to lower restrictions on private property 

*Develop a nationally coordinated environmental monitoring system 

*Abolish Significant Natural Areas and set up a fund for councils and the QEII Trust helping landowners to put land into covenants 

*Grant access to hunting on conservation land, along with “economic activities” like mining, within limits 

New Zealand First 

*Support regional council-administered, catchment-level farm environment plans and establish catchment boards 

*Remove Te Mana o te Wai from freshwater resource consenting and reinstate the “four wellbeing” provisions into resource management reforms 

*Continue to support the Jobs for Nature programme 

*Halt creation of any new landfills and advance work on the development of rubbish disposal alternatives through a nationwide recycling and recovery strategy 

*Fund the Kauri dieback response to include more monitoring, research, compliance staff, and disease control 

*Give the West Coast access to DoC-held stewardship land for “sustainable and environmentally approved” mining 

Te Pāti Māori 

*Acknowledge Māori rights over fresh water and ensure that water rights are allocated fairly 

*Boost funding for Te Mana o te Wai and put a moratorium on new water bottling plants until allocations system developed 

*Return conservation land to whānau, hapū and iwi 

*Ban seabed mining and expand the coverage of a ban on mining in conservation land 

*Phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser on farms by 2025 

*Establish a $300m fund to incentivise Māori farmers to transition to regenerative farming practices