Treaty settlements are meant to be durable Crown commitments. But released documents show the Conservation Amendment Bill interacts with about 700 Treaty settlement commitments in the conservation portfolio — with unresolved questions about how some will be upheld. #ConservationAmendmentBill

Forest & Bird helped force a major backdown on the Conservation Amendment Bill last week - but the bill is still proceeding and set to cause huge damage to nature. Here I talk with Nicky Snoyink from f&b in depth about key aspects of the changes. Full video on melanienelson.substack.com #nzpol

Submissions close on the Conservation Amendment Bill tomorrow, 2/6/26 In this episode of Coherent, I talk with Forest & Birds Nicky Snoyink about what has changed, what has not, and why public pressure still matters #nzpol #conservation melanienelson.substack.com/p/nicky-snoy...

The Govt says section 4 of the Conservation Act will remain. But proposed section 4A could hollow out how Treaty obligations apply to key decisions on public conservation land - policy, plans, concessions, disposals. Submissions close 2 July. #ConservationAmendmentBill #section4

Anyone interested in the #conservation reforms in #aotearoa #newzealand needs to watch this interview - @forestandbird.bsky.social going deep into the detail of the #ShaneJonesClause and how that means 100% commercialisation is coming, even the land sales provisions are dumped #nzpol

Forest & Bird helped force a major backdown on the Conservation Amendment Bill. But the job is not done yet - the “Shane Jones clause” still affects 100% of public conservation land. New Coherent episode out now. open.substack.com/pub/melanien... #ConservationAmendmentBill #ShaneJonesClause

New Coherent episode with Allan Brent, President of #FederatedMountainClubs We dissect the #ConservationAmmendmentBill - public access, outdoor recreation, huts, tracks, #DOC land, sale/exchange powers & who decides what #conservation land is for #nzpol

Here's the first of a series of long form interviews Melanie Nelson @weavingourworlds.bsky.social is producing regarding aspects of the upcoming conservation reform. Select committee submissions close soon so don't dwadle! ##nzpol open.substack.com/pub/melanien...

Unless the govt removes the new purpose of the Conservation Bill around the functions of the department - prioritising economic value - then his backtracking remains "bits and bobs" This is the new purpose for DOC. it's also in the overarching purpose of the bill. #klillTheWholeBill #nzpol

Conservation Minister just announced removal of disposal provisions from the Conservation Amendment Bill. Shane Jones didn't sound too pleased. Significant issues remain - 100% land for economic development "to the greatest extent practicable". Treaty rights slashed. Minister sole decision maker.

I've mapped the "bits and bobs" of public conservation land the govt wants to sell. And to achieve that, they just happen to be changing the law to make 60% of the conservation estate more vulnerable to disposal. melanienelson.substack.com for more articles & interviews dropping this week

The Government is creating a powerful new conservation rulebook before Parliament has even decided whether it should exist. The proposed NCPS could shape decisions across public conservation land for years to come — and the time to engage in the process is now. #doc #conservation #enviroment #nzpol

#coherent talked with Rebecca Macfie about Poverty in New Zealand - which Rebecca describes as Poverty, by Design. And how this is indicative of something systemic open.substack.com/pub/melanien... Details of the conference Kia Tika, Kia Pono April 16-18 Wellington www.wgtn.ac.nz/stout-centre...

#coherent talked with Rebecca Macfie about Poverty in New Zealand & the conference (April16-18) 'Kia Tika, Kia Pono - For a Just Society' open.substack.com/pub/melanien... Details here www.wgtn.ac.nz/stout-centre... www.facebook.com/events/16140... #nzpol @bwbnz.bsky.social

What if poverty in New Zealand isn’t accidental, but the result of how systems are designed? In this episode of Coherent, I speak with journalist & author Rebecca Macfie about the Kia Tika, Kia Pono: For a Just Society conference buff.ly/6oAT4QB #poverty #aotearoa #conference @@bwbnz.bsky.social

Dropping soon is the latest #coherent interview with Rebecca Macfie. We manage crisis well - so why are we failing here? They discuss the conference 'Kia Tika, Kia Pono - For a Just Society' in Wellington April 16-18 Conference details www.wgtn.ac.nz/stout-centre... #poverty #newzealand #crisis

Will a decision by the Government cut off access to your favorite piece of conservation land? #coherent talked in detail with former Minister of Conservation Eugiene Sage about this in December. Listen in full open.substack.com/pub/melanien... #nzpol #doc #hunting #fishing #tramping

Will a December 2025 decision the Minster of Conservation, see access to public conservation land lost, rivers damed, unique landscapes mined and fragile ecosystems destroyed? Former minister, Eugiene Sage, explains how yes, it does. Listen in full here open.substack.com/pub/melanien... #nzpol

In December I talked with former Minister of Conservation, Eugiene Sage, about the outcome of the West Coast Stewardship lands review. In March, this came to a head with the decision to Dam the Waitaha river. Listen in full melanienelson.substack.com/podcast #doc #conservation #enviroment #nz

"Clear majority of New Zealanders value the influence of the Treaty on Government decisions or thinking there should be more" is another way to package exactly the same results. A Choice that RNZ picked the way in the QT.

But looked at their shoes and mumbled when asked for an example

I'm just wondering if anyone knows where the Prime Minister of New Zealand will be attending the commemorations this Waitangi day,? The internet's seem not to know, and so for as I've heard the AOS hasn't scoped out Onuku like they had already by this time last year. #nzpol

In the latest Coherent episode, Sir Geoffery Palmer warns the Regulatory Standards Bill is dangerous, unworkable, and undemocratic. He says it could paralyse Parliament, strip ministerial responsibility, and leave the courts powerless. 🎧 Listen here: open.substack.com/pub/melanien...

Just out on the spinoff by @weavingourworlds.bsky.social thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-...

An important piece by @weavingourworlds.bsky.social. If NZ First really have capitulated to Seymour, ACT and the NZ Initiative it's really problematic — at least until we have a government that repeals the Regulatory Standards Bill. It would be worth people emailing Peters and Jones about this.

“It’s a long-term death charge put in the middle of the Parliament.” - Sir Palmer On Coherent, former PM & constitutional expert breaks down why the Regulatory Standards Bill is unworkable, undemocratic & dangerously naïve. open.substack.com/pub/melanien... #RSB #NZPol #Democracy #GeoffreyPalmer

Dr Melanie Baker Jones joins Coherent to unpack how the RSB could undermine local government action, emissions regulation, intergenerational equity — and even the legal rights of nature. 🎧 Listen here to the full podcast open.substack.com/pub/melanien... #RSB #ClimateAction #NZPolitics

Can New Zealand still plan for climate change under the Regulatory Standards Bill? Dr Melanie Baker Jones joins Coherent to unpack how the RSB could undermine government action, emissions regulation, intergenerational equity and the legal rights of nature. open.substack.com/pub/melanien... #RSB

Economist Geoff Bertram joins Coherent to break down how monopoly power and regulatory capture are driving the cost of living crisis — and how the Regulatory Standards Bill could lock it all in. Full episode link here open.substack.com/pub/melanien...

Just published by @weavingourworlds.bsky.social Will New Zealand first sell out on its principles or will it stop the RSB?

What picture are the messages forming about NZ First support for an amended Regulatory Standards Bill?

Bill Rosenberg: How the RSB Privileges Power and Undermines the Public Good The former Productivity Commissioner lays out why the Regulatory Standards Bill is about embedding corporate power, locking in inequality, and weakening our democracy. Listen here: melanienelson.substack.com #RSB

“You can still deliver a pepeha — even if, like me, you’re Māori and don’t know your whakapapa.” — Emma West.

Week in Review: Dame Anne Salmond laments the falling standards of our political leaders, their attack dogs and policy sources while New Zealanders endure such hard times

Enough said...

Dr Carwyn Jones unpacks the Regulatory Standards Bill’s threat to te Tiriti, democratic lawmaking, and the future of New Zealand’s legal foundations.

Economist and former Productivity Commissioner Dr Bill Rosenberg joins me to unpack the deep ideological roots and real-world risks of the Regulatory Standards Bill.

The coalition Government has quietly amended the controversial Regulatory Standards Bill, even as the legislation is before the select committee. Laura Walters and Sam Sachdeva report. - Newsroom Pro - $ -

Ironically the Regulatory Takings clause in the proposed Planning Act would enable developers to sue the arse off Seymour for denying them the enjoyment of property rights

Hmm. Another over-egged policy paper from #NZInitiative, no doubt for ideological aim of promoting smaller govt. Problem “diagnosis” purports to paint picture of fragmentation/confusion etc. Yet fails to refer collective coordinating role of Cabinet. 🤷🏻‍♂️ www.nzinitiative.org.nz/reports-and-...

I'm on BHN 9pm tonight with Dr Ryan Ward talking about our investigative work on the influence of the theory of fringe American legal scholar Richard Epstein on the Regulatory Standards Bill - experimenting on NZ. youtube.com/live/CP4SKm5...

Significant new information in this investigative article I've co-authored with Dr Ryan Ward on the foreign ideology influence behind the Regulatory Standards Bill.

I have an article in E-Tangata today on the government's proposals to overhaul conservation, including removing decision-making from communities, increasing commercial activities and even the saleability of the conservation estate.

Ross Calman’s new book Te Tiriti o Waitangi is short, sharp, and essential. In this kōrero we dive into the rushed translation, the debates at Waitangi, and why the Treaty still matters for all New Zealanders. Listen here:

I have an article in the Spinoff today on the amendments to conservation legislation being quietly progressed by the government

Don't stop at the headline of charging for tourists on conservation land. It is obscuring proposals to make 60% of conservation land easier to sell and unleash commercial activities on the conservation estate. Here's a detailed explanation.

Does the government want to create a neoliberal conservation estate? Listen to a former Minister for Conservation disect the proposals on the Coherent podcast. Link in bio.

Former Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage joins Coherent to unpack the Government’s “modernisation” of conservation land management — and why she sees it as the most serious weakening of protections in decades. We talk biodiversity, Treaty obligations, land disposals, and climate resilience.