Govt steaming ahead with divisive Three Waters

“The Government has ignored everyday Kiwis and their valid criticisms of Three Waters and is steamrolling through more legislation today,” says ACT’s Local Government spokesperson Simon Court says.

“ACT has made a commitment – if Labour steals it, ACT will repeal it.

“Councils and ratepayers are rejecting Three Waters because central government is barging in and taking control of their assets but Labour is bulldozing through all opposition.

“It is also another case of Labour shoehorning divisive co-governance into legislation it has no business being in. People shouldn’t have a seat at the table just because of who their grandparents are.

“There is no rationale for continuing to have co-governance at the centre of the reforms. Nanaia Mahuta herself has admitted that “Māori have not expressed rights and interests in three waters assets over and above those as ratepayers within their respective communities of interest.”

“ACT has put forward valid criticism of these reforms today, Labour backbenchers have responded by harping on about how opposition to the reforms is “racist”. There’s nothing racist about not wanting to split assets up based purely on ancestry. All New Zealanders want clean and safe water, not just iwi.

ACT’s Water Infrastructure Plan would:

• Provide for councils to enter voluntary “shared services” agreements, gaining the benefits of scale, while retaining local ownership and control

• Establish long term 30-year Central Government-Local Government Partnership agreements to plan water infrastructure upgrades tailored to specific regions

• Establish a Public-Private Partnerships (through our proposed Nation Building Agency) to attract investment from financial entities such as KiwiSaver funds, ACC, iwi investment funds, etc.

• Expand the exemption from domestic supply for a single dwelling to also include all small water suppliers sup plying fewer than 30 endpoint users.

“We can improve the current system, but we don’t need to do so through state-mandated centralisation.

“ACT’s plan will better balance community control of water assets alongside a plan for levelling up the necessary infrastructure to ensure safety and efficient water allocation.”