The announcement of legislation to repeal Three Waters is symbolic of a broader change in direction, away from the centralising instincts of Labour and back toward empowering local communities.
We all know status quo isn’t up to scratch, but Labour’s bureaucratic, co-governed regime was never the answer. Three Waters would have been great for middle-managers but a disaster for water users, with layers and layers of bureaucracy separating decisionmakers from the people.
ACT’s coalition agreement delivered the stop-work notice to the Three Waters workstream. We’ve also committed the Government to instituting long-term city and regional infrastructure deals, empowering local authorities to use public-private partnerships and tolling to fund their own infrastructure – including the pipes.