Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

  1. há 2 h

    Ryan Bridge: Cutting red tape by adding complexity

    Do we really need a Minister of booze?  Back in the good old days, they were all Ministers of booze. The whole cabinet. Especially Robert Muldoon.  But the idea that we need a Minister responsible for Alcohol is well-intentioned, like all 80-odd portfolios that reviews and recommendations have created.  This one is a recommendation from the Hospitality Sector Regulatory Review.  The review was done by the Ministry for Regulation.  That was created to cut red tape and make government less complicated.  It's recommended creating a new agency and a new Ministerial responsibility.  It was announced by the Minister for Regulation, David Seymour, who's role was also set up to cut red tape.  Can you see the problem here?  There are no doubt good reasons to make rules simpler and get rid of regulations.  But creating a new Minister and ministry who then does a review and recommends creating another agency and another Ministerial job just sounds backwards.  It's like a bacterial. Bureaucratic bacteria. They multiply and spread everywhere.  One minute it's a single cell, the next minute it's split into two. Next minute there's four. It goes on and on.  We need fewer jobs in Wellington, not more.  Remember, Ireland, Norway, Singapore and Finland who are similar size to us, they all have fewer than 20 Ministerial roles. The UK, Canada, United States and Korea have fewer than 30.  The saving grace is that no decisions on the review have been made. Why not just cut the red tape and send the pollies for a beer at Bellamys. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. há 1 dia

    Andrew Dickens: The jungle drums are starting to thrum for the fast-track regime

    Well, the jungle drums are starting to thrum for the fast-track regime.   Word on the street is that legal action is coming for a number of the proposals currently before the committee.  Meanwhile, there was a fiery Auckland Council meeting yesterday full of anger at residential fast-track developers.  Mayor Wayne Brown has vowed to be a thorn in the side of subdivisions looking to circumvent the council, considering telling fast-track developers —and future residents— it won’t provide or fund basic services to them.  The problem is the developers are using the new system to gazump planning rules.   Fast-track was designed to speed up the process of getting consents, but not to supplant the regulations currently in place.   There's been a stampede by housing developers who want quick consents, but they also want more latitude for their plans.   A prime example is the re-development of the Devonport township.   The developers there have proposed a series of eight storey buildings, but the Unitary Plan currently only allows four.   That's got locals concerned that the picturesque main road will be overwhelmed, but they'll have no say.  The fast-track is there to make the gaining of consents faster, but not to fundamentally change the plan that's currently in place.   The great success so far is the Port of Tauranga, whose plan was stuck in bureaucratic limbo for seven years. Now in a matter of months the plan has been approved, but it is still a plan that adheres to planning regulations in place.   So expect some expensive legal action as locals and councils put the spanner in the works of the developers trying to push the boundaries for a quick buck.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

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