Last year the Labour party was able to push through a number of contentious bills such as expanding state power, further regulations against farmers, increasing restrictions on firearms owners and more.
One bill that faced overwhelming opposition in most sectors of society was the Three Waters reforms, one that Nanaia Mahuta has been spearheading with strong determination.
One of the most contentious bills pushed through by a government with a growing list of controversial policies, Nanaia Mahuta extended her working group to now report by February 28, a change to her original plan to push the legislation through by Christmas. It has been noted by some that contentious legislation appears to be enacted just before traditional family holidays.
This failure to push through before Christmas may have been due to outrage at different levels of democracy, with highly negative polls and 60 out of 67 councils either flatly refusing or giving grave concerns.
One of the most vociferous voices has been from The Taxpayers’ Union, who decry the inherent taxpayer wastage that appears to be obvious to many:
Their four main points they advise as:
Higher Water Costs
The Government claims larger water entities will be more efficient, but the Government’s own peer review rubbishes the claimed savings, which don’t even consider the financial implications of co-governance. There is no limit on how much the unelected entities can charge for water services, no stopping iwi groups charging ‘water royalties’ nor is there a requirement for councils to reduce rates to reflect the fact they will no longer supply water services.
Unnecessary Bureaucracy
Under the proposed reforms, there will be four layers of bureaucracy separating ratepayers from the new water entities. Councils will join with iwi to appoint a regional body which will appoint a selection panel which will appoint the entity board. That is madness.
While the Government claims councils will still ‘own’ water assets, councils will lose their rights of control. Decisions around selling assets, receiving dividends, and setting charges will be made by unelected entities, with no provision for councils to withdraw from the new regime.
Labour did not campaign on these reforms during the last election and is now pressuring councils to support complex, far-reaching reforms during a pandemic, without time for local consultation. Even though most councils oppose the plan, Nanaia Mahuta says she has the right to simply force the new regime on local councils whether they like it or not.
