The most important points in this article are as follows -
National want to open up ~2/31 of our entire conservation estate for sale / commercialisation and exchange.
And, at the same time they are in the process of eliminating substantive protections from foreigners2 and corporations snapping up our land and assets3
The Regulatory Standards Bill will also offer considerable protections to all “property owners” - foreign and domestic - requiring potential compensation should anyone interfere with their absolute property “freedom and rights”.4
What is the cumulative impact here?
Picture this:
American Billionaire A, using a shell company, comes in and swoops up a few thousand hectares of conservation land. And because of the Regulatory Standards Bill he can in practice do whatever he wants. He buys a few new homes; and creates some experimental labs. Vistas become blocked and kiwi birds are killed, but the RSB will protect him, and the Courts and environmental protection is effectively defanged by now. American Billionaire A starts getting involved in NZ affairs because politics determines outcomes - he has experience there.
Billionaire B from Saudia Arabia finishes a structure that the NZ Courts once stopped, and as the Regulatory Standards Bill is retroactive, he now has grounds to sue New Zealand. He expands his property outwards - the conservation land behind is now up for grabs and he expands a new build up and out to magnificent heights. He also builds helicopter pads. Locals are helpless to stop it, and they feel their way of life changed in front of their eyes.
Corporate C wants to open a new fast food restaurant in a picturesque NZ town. Activist citizens previously rallied against it. Times have changed. The corporate now buys land on the lake, previously classified as conservation estate. They clear it for development - there are rumoured to be skinks and other endangered, native wildlife, but that is no concern. It is unprotected by law and the Regulatory Standards Bill will ensure any attempt to stop them will mean significant financial penalties on the local councils and individuals. The new restaurant opens to great fanfare and tourism dollars. Most of those profits will go back overseas. Billionaire A is one of the investors. He smiles.
5 million hectares of conservation land - the vast majority classified as “high ecological value” - up for commercialisation under the National Party
Perhaps what is most interesting about this story is how few media outlets have highlighted it.
There is still time, though, and RNZ covered it first.5
Forest and Bird have been working tirelessly to raise the alarm.6
Public Conservation Land (PCL) is a third of New Zealand’s total land area. It not only contains a large proportion of our important ecosystems, it includes 75 percent of total indigenous forestry and offers significant biodiversity, cultural and economic benefits7
It’s worth noting at this point that the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, submitted on this proposal earlier in the year -
Transcript:
“This proposal would represent a major change to New Zealand conservation law.
Were it to go ahead, it would make around 5 million hectares of public conservation land – almost two thirds of the conservation estate – available for exchange and disposal.
Many different types of conservation land would potentially be affected.
Everything from local reserves covering one hundred hectares to conservation parks covering one hundred thousand hectares.
The vast majority of this land is of high ecological value.
For a proposal with such wide-reaching consequences, it is striking how vague the consultation document is about what the Government is trying to achieve….”
Upton also suggests the government may be aiming to dispose of conservation land to save on DOC budget and says:
“…The idea that we are protecting ‘too much’ of certain ecosystems is not one I have heard before.”
Full submission document: Link - February 2025
What does Nicola Toki, Forest and Bird CEO, say?
“The scale and speed of [sneaky] regulatory reforms [harming nature under this government], is so fast and massive that no New Zealander can keep up.. it’s like drinking Coke from a fire hose just trying to keep on top of all that reform.”
…. the cumulative impact of death by 1000 cuts.”8
“They’re making .. 5 million hectares of conservation land, easier to swap or sell off and weakening the importance of conservation in decision-making.
That’s not saving nature in these special places.”
“We have a proud history and legacy of protecting public conservation land that belongs to all of us today, and the future generations tomorrow.”
“Now is the time to protect and restore, not to weaken what remains.”9
“The rolling back of environmental protections that we’ve seen in the last 18 months is like nothing I’ve seen in my 20 plus year career. And this one is probably the final insult…”
Like all things that the National Party touch, it’s not that there isn’t merit in reform or changes, but if the last 18 months has taught us anything, it’s that the party’s real goals consistently fail to match up to the public interest test, evidence based expertise, and democracy.
As Toki states clearly: the government has no mandate from the NZ public here.
Nor do their multiple rushed processes, law changes, and low levels of transparency & information, aid the NZ people to truly dissect and understand what is at stake.
We truly are in unprecedented and dangerous times.
Note: The government is currently writing the Conservation Acts (Land Management) Amendment Bill, and say they expect it to table it by year end 2025.
Kiwis are tired, and according to Susie, only about 300010 people submitted on the significant Overseas Amendment Bill.
That may be the point.
Toki expresses it well - “It feels like guzzling…from a fire hose.” They can’t keep up.
Besides, isn’t this “we have to do this because of growth” narrative getting old?
The only growth this country has seen under National is record unemployment, record business failures, record jobseekers, record homelessness, and record levels of perceived corruption.
NZ Mining lobbies for mining on conservation lands.
Shane Jones hinted at lower royalties11 for the sector in the May budget but that has not yet eventuated.
Jones and Chris Bishop did start this term by declaring mining on conservation lands would take place regardless.
Note: There’s a huge question mark in terms of tourism, and the value of “Pure, Clean New Zealand” - even as this pro-fossil fuel government advances its agenda.
Food for thought.
Quotes:
Westpac Chief Economist - An Exchange
Shane Jones
Jones will ensure camera surveillance footage from the fishing industry will not be available under the OIA under his reforms:
“We are making changes to protect the privacy and confidentiality of regular New Zealanders going about their legal business.
Fishers won’t need to worry about footage being released, misinterpreted, or weaponised in ways that undermine trust.”
Cartoons:
An Ode to Erica Stanford -
Related Articles (Chronological Order)
Forest
Trump Administration to End Protections for 58 Million Acres of National Forests January 2025 (NYT)
Trump rescinds protections on 59m acres of national forest to allow logging June 2025 (Guardian)
Congress is making more than 250 million acres of public lands available for sale June 2025 (Wildnerness Society)
Eroding protections for public lands July 2025 (Reuters)
Fisheries
Fishing company Talley's bankrolling Shane Jones' NZ First campaign - Stuff March 2017 (Matt Shand)
Concerns over secret fisheries donations to NZ First Foundation - RNZ February 2020 (Guyon Espinor and Kate Newston)
Big donor’s ask: Minister reviews cameras on fishing boats - Newsroom February 2024 (Jonathan Milne)
NZ First fisheries donations laid bare - Newsroom February 2024 (Laura Walters)
Government confirms pro-industry fisheries changes - NZME August 2025 (Thomas Coughlan)
Notes from Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Forest and Bird use 60%.
And NZ First have already agreed to allow the uber wealthy to buy property and probably gain citizenship in exchange for “investment”.
National/ACT have also signaled they will ease the rules on the wealthy buying homes wrapped in trusts.
This process has been led by ACT with Luxon’s and Winston Peters’ full endorsement
A very American concept
So did Reuters to a degree with the headline “New Zealand will make it easier to run businesses in conservation areas”
Lakes Weekly in Queenstown also ran a short story.
Nicola Toki says this government’s “sneaky” and underhanded attacks on nature feel like guzzling from a fire hose. It’s the worst she’s ever seen it in her 20+ years as an environmentalist.
DOC estimates from the Treasury (2024) place the value of DOC land at an estimated $9.05 billion and PCL generates a net annual value of $10.9 billion. Source: DOC
Forest and Bird August 2025
Updated
The following updates have been made to the article since publication:
- Updated by catch information on commercial fisheries boats
- Added in article links showing Donald J Trump selling off public lands in USA for commercial interests, and rescinding protections
- Updated number of submissions on OIA
I'm normally have an optimistic outlook on life but Nicola Toki's comment about the firehouse is pretty much how I feel. Our little efforts (Mountain Tui and the like) are worthy and illuminating but the success of causes like Save Manapouri way back, was partly, maybe even largely, because of mass media of the day, the newspapers giving it and its leaders wide publicity and in so doing galvanizing the general public to get behind the campaign. Now, getting the public engaged is much more problematic with a fractured and, it almost seems, compliant media.