The bill amends the Game Animal Council Act 2013 to permit the Minister to designate herds of special interest located in national parks and to make clear that one subsection of the National Parks Act 1980 (section 4(2)(b)) will not apply to those designated herds. It also adds a cross-reference to the National Parks Act to record that exception.
The change narrows a statutory protection in national parks for the specific, designated herds and elevates the Game Animal Council Act designation power over the particular provision in the National Parks Act. That creates a targeted legal pathway for managed game-animal herds inside park boundaries and raises practical and governance questions for park managers, iwi, conservation bodies, and the Department of Conservation.
At a Glance
What It Does
The bill inserts two subsections into section 16 of the Game Animal Council Act to state that when the Minister designates a herd of special interest in a national park, section 4(2)(b) of the National Parks Act does not apply to that herd and that section 4(2)(b) does not limit the Minister’s designation power. It also adds a cross-reference to section 4 of the National Parks Act noting the exception.
Who It Affects
The change principally affects the Minister (and the Game Animal Council’s delegated processes), the Department of Conservation (park managers), iwi and conservation organisations with interests in national parks, and any parties seeking to establish or manage game herds in park land.
Why It Matters
This is a narrow statutory override that creates a route for active, possibly managed game-animal herds inside national parks without repealing park protections more broadly. For regulators and land managers it alters legal priorities between two Acts and concentrates discretion in ministerial designation rather than in existing National Parks Act protections.
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What This Bill Actually Does
The bill does two closely related things. First, it amends the Game Animal Council Act 2013 by inserting two new subsections to section 16.
Those subsections say that where the Minister designates a ‘herd of special interest’ inside a national park, one particular clause of the National Parks Act (section 4(2)(b)) will not apply to that herd, and that the National Parks Act clause cannot be used to limit the Minister’s ability to make such a designation.
Second, the bill makes a consequential amendment to the National Parks Act 1980 by inserting a short cross-reference after section 4(2) to point readers back to the new Game Animal Council Act provision. The National Parks Act text itself is not changed beyond that explanatory cross-reference; the underlying subsection 4(2)(b) remains on the statute books unchanged except for the carved-out application where a designation exists.Notably, the bill does not alter the criteria, procedures, consultation requirements, or thresholds that currently sit in section 16 for designating herds of special interest under the Game Animal Council Act.
It simply clarifies the legal relationship between the two Acts: in cases of designation, the narrower park-protection rule in section 4(2)(b) will not restrict the Minister’s exercise of the Game Animal Council Act power. Practically, that means a designation could authorize activities related to a designated herd that otherwise would be constrained by section 4(2)(b).Because the bill is limited in scope—adding an exception and a cross-reference rather than rewriting park law—it leaves open many implementation details.
The Department of Conservation will still administer national parks and their overall natural-state obligations, but when herds are designated that administration must accommodate the statutory exception. The bill also sets its own commencement: it takes effect the day after Royal assent, making the change immediate on enactment.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The bill inserts subsections 16(3A) and 16(3B) into the Game Animal Council Act 2013 to exempt designated herds in national parks from section 4(2)(b) of the National Parks Act 1980 and to confirm section 4(2)(b) does not limit the Minister’s power to designate.
It adds a new subsection (3) to section 4 of the National Parks Act 1980 as a consequential cross‑reference, without altering the original text of section 4(2)(b) itself.
The amendment is narrowly targeted at designated ‘herds of special interest’—it does not repeal or otherwise amend the National Parks Act beyond the cross‑reference, so the park protections remain unless a designation exists.
The bill leaves the existing designation criteria and processes in the Game Animal Council Act intact; it changes only the inter‑Act legal priority for designated herds.
The Act specifies commencement the day after Royal assent, so any new designations after that point would be governed by the amended legal relationship between the two Acts.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Short title
Confirms the statute will be cited as the Game Animal Council (Herds of Special Interest) Amendment Act 2025. This is purely formal but signals the amendment’s narrow focus on designation powers and special-interest herds rather than a broader overhaul of wildlife or park law.
Commencement timing
Specifies the Act comes into force the day after Royal assent. For administrators that creates immediate effect on the statutory relationship between the Acts; any designation decisions taken after commencement must be read against the new exception, and existing designations (if any) will need to be reviewed for their legal status under the new wording.
Creates the statutory exception for designated herds in national parks
Adds subsections 16(3A) and 16(3B). Subsection 16(3A) says that when a herd of special interest is designated in a national park, section 4(2)(b) of the National Parks Act does not apply to that herd. Subsection 16(3B) makes clear that section 4(2)(b) cannot be invoked to restrict the Minister’s power to designate. Practically, this places a narrow statutory override in the Game Animal Council Act so the Minister’s designation can permit activities concerning that herd that would otherwise be constrained by the specified National Parks Act subsection.
Cross-reference inserted in National Parks Act
After section 4(2) the bill inserts a new subsection (3) pointing readers to section 16(3A) of the Game Animal Council Act. This is consequential drafting: it records the exception in the National Parks Act without altering the substantive wording of section 4(2)(b). The effect is to make the statutory relationship explicit for practitioners consulting the National Parks Act, but the legal operation remains driven by the Game Animal Council amendment.
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Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Minister for Hunting and Fishing / Game Animal Council: The Minister gains clearer legal authority to designate and manage special-interest herds inside national parks, reducing the risk that section 4(2)(b) will be interpreted to prevent intended management actions.
- Hunting and recreational organisations or private interests seeking managed herds: Parties that propose or steward designated herds get a statutory pathway to operate inside park boundaries where previously national-park protections might have blocked such activity.
- Researchers and heritage programmes focused on particular herds: Where designations permit management or monitoring activities, research or cultural‑heritage projects tied to specific herds may proceed under a clearer legal regime.
Who Bears the Cost
- Department of Conservation (DOC): DOC will need to reconcile park management plans and natural-state obligations with the new exception, incurring administrative and possibly operational costs to accommodate designated herd management inside parks.
- Iwi and hapū with kaitiakitanga interests in affected parks: Groups with treaty and customary interests may face altered management outcomes for park areas; they may need to engage in additional consultation or legal processes to protect values.
- Conservation NGOs and park users: Organisations and individuals who advocate for the maintenance of natural park ecosystems bear the risk of permitted activities that could fragment habitats or change visitor experience, and may face costs from monitoring or legal challenges if they contest designations.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill confronts a classic trade-off: enabling ministerial discretion to permit managed game-animal herds—potentially for cultural, recreational, or economic reasons—versus preserving the statutory commitment to keep national parks in a natural state; it solves access for managed herds by carving out the park protection, but in doing so concentrates controversial land‑use choices in ministerial hands without prescribing how to protect other park values.
The bill introduces a narrow statutory override but leaves many practical questions unresolved. It does not define ‘herd of special interest’ within the amendment text, nor does it change the Game Animal Council Act’s existing designation criteria or the National Parks Act’s other protections.
That combination means the legal effect of any future designation will depend heavily on how the existing designation process is used and documented, and on how courts interpret the interplay between the two Acts if a dispute arises.
Operationally, the amendment raises immediate implementation challenges. Park management must accommodate an exception that may permit active interventions (fencing, feeding, selective culling, or movement restrictions) without statutory guidance in this bill about the scope of permitted activities.
The bill also centralises discretion with the Minister, which could accelerate decision‑making in some cases but heighten tensions over transparency, consultation (including with iwi), and accountability. Finally, because the National Parks Act protection remains on the books except where a designation exists, the amendment creates a patchwork legal regime: most of a park will still be governed by section 4(2)(b), with islanded exceptions for designated herds—an arrangement that can complicate enforcement and monitoring.
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