By Louis Houlbrooke

The campaign to Stop Three Waters has reached a significant milestone, with the official petition reaching 100,000 signatures.

Further, in response to popular demand, the Taxpayers’ Union has added three new events to the Stop Three Waters roadshow in Reefton, Wairoa, and Pukekohe. Details can be found at www.3WatersRoadshow.nz.

Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “The launch of the nationwide roadshow to Stop Three Waters, along with Nanaia Mahuta’s introduction of legislation to Parliament, has supercharged our campaign to protect local democracy and accountable water services.”

“Our roadshow has only just begun, but we’ve already seen the evidence of deep concern over the Government’s proposals to shift water assets away from local control, into new co-governed monopolies. In Alexandra we saw more than 200 ratepayers pack out the town hall. We even had 30 or 40 ratepayers join our chilly roadside stop in Fairlie – population 900.”

“The petition is important because we now have an army of 100,000 New Zealanders that can be mobilised during the consultation phase of the legislation. The size of this army keeps growing as we collate the handwritten signatures collected at every one of the 45 events.”

“When the Select Committee in charge of the legislation starts taking public submissions, the MPs need to actually do what we’re doing and hit the road, hearing submissions face-to-face in the communities directly affected.”

On the new roadshow dates, Mr Houlbrooke says:

Reefton

“The decision to add Reefton to our itinerary was made to highlight the strident opposition to Three Waters from civic leaders on the West Coast, who will be traveling from Greymouth and Westport to make their voices heard. Unfortunately, Buller District Council is yet to come to the table in this campaign for local democracy. We don’t think anyone will miss the symbolism of us parking our Stop Three Waters campervan right outside the Council offices.”

Wairoa

“Wairoa’s Mayor and Council have been firm in their opposition to Three Waters, and our supporters in the area have rightly hounded us to hear and highlight their concerns.”

Pukekohe

“The Pukekohe event will hear the concerns of communities on the edge of the Super City, many of whom have developed a healthy distrust in the type of centralised, top-down decision making epitomised by Nanaia Mahuta’s asset grab.”