The four mines are covered by a draft fast-track bill tabled during coalition government negotiations

The Fast Track Bill has not yet become law and is currently being considered by the Environment Committee.

However, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has previously said a list of infrastructure projects that will automatically be referred to the panel for consideration will not be released.

But his office did publish an overview of the types of projects that had applied for fast-track approvals, with 40% for housing and urban development, 24% for infrastructure, 18% for renewable energy, 8% for primary industries, and 5% each for quarrying and mining.

Cappy said refusing to release the list of applicants would deprive the public and the commission of an opportunity to review the projects.

“If a list of fast-tracked projects had been shared between the parties during coalition negotiations, New Zealanders would have had a right to know what was on that list,” he said.

“The whole process of creating this law that overrides environmental standards and local concerns was rushed and secretive, and the biggest secret was what projects the government was considering.”

He said the projects were not generated through a transparent process, so the idea that they could inform the new bill was problematic.

A spokesperson for Bishop’s office reiterated that the projects on the list had gone through a public application process and had to be approved by an expert advisory panel before becoming part of the bill.

Another OIA obtained by Labor also refers to Jones’ draft bill – then called the National and Regional Major Projects and Other Matters Bill – and reveals that four of the projects are mining projects: two by OceanaGold (Wahi North and Macraes Stage 4), one by Bathurst Resources (Buller Plateau) and one by BT Mining (Rotowaro Continuation).

It is not yet clear whether these projects are among those eligible under the new bill.

Labour MP Rachel Brooking said the projects were “clearly not coming from any policy development body” and, worryingly, meant private projects would benefit from government bills.