Submissions Open On The Environment (Disestablishment Of Ministry For The Environment) Amendment Bill

The Deputy Chairperson of the Environment Committee is
calling for public submissions on the Environment
(Disestablishment of Ministry for the Environment) Amendment
Bill.

This bill is the first step in the
Government’s plan to combine the functions of four
government agencies into a new Ministry of Cities,
Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT):

• the
  Ministry for the Environment
• the Ministry of Housing
  and Urban Development
• the Ministry of
  Transport
• local government functions of the
  Department of Internal Affairs.

This bill seeks
to amend the Environment Act 1986. It would disestablish the
Ministry for the Environment and transfer the Ministry’s
existing functions to the statutory office of the Secretary
for the Environment. The Government has stated that it
intends that the chief executive of the new ministry would
be the Secretary for the Environment.

The Ministry for
the Environment was established by the Environment Act and
can only be disestablished by Parliament. The other
functions to be included in the new ministry were not
created through legislation and therefore do not require
similar disestablishment legislation. The Government has
stated its intention to disestablish these, and transfer to
the proposed MCERT, by secondary legislation made under the
Public Service Act 2020.

This bill relates solely to
the Ministry for the Environment, and the deputy chairperson
is seeking submissions that focus on the transfer of
environment-related functions covered by the bill, rather
than general comments on the broader machinery of government
changes.

Tell the Environment Committee what you
think

Make
a submission on the bill by 4.30pm on Wednesday, 11
March 2026.

For more details about the
bill:

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