Three Waters

Hamilton West byelection turnout tracking at less than 40% of general election. Kaipara's mayor has backed down on his decision to ban karakia at council ...

It explained the risks and difficulties associated with “direct donation” and the fact that the Covid-19 vaccination would not impact the safety of the blood being used during the surgery. And, Little said “many more” are in the pipeline. There’s been a lot of talk this week about Pharmac’s approach to the announcement it would be funding Trikafta, the potentially life-saving cystic fibrosis drug. Meanwhile, the health minister has today announced another “important” drug will be granted public funding: Spinraza. Want to read The Bulletin in full? The Hamilton West byelection was triggered by the resignation of Gaurav Sharma from parliament, which followed a series of claims about bullying that led to his expulsion from the Labour caucus. A Curia poll for the Taxpayers’ Union puts National’s Tama Potaka in the lead, on 46%, with Labour candidate Georgie Dansey on 33% and sitting list MP for ACT on 12%. The Greens had largely supported three waters up to this time and had voted in favour of it at first and second reading. Had supported it through all stages but made a decision in caucus on Tuesday to not support the third reading today as it lacks anti-privatisation provisions and other changes. The total turnout in the June byelection in Tauranga was 20,784, or 40.5% of those enrolled. It will take a surge in the last couple of days of advance voting and election day itself for turnout in the Hamilton West byelection to hit even 30% turnout of enrolled voters. In the 2020 general election in Hamilton West the corresponding figure was 19,996.

The Taxpayers' Union is today launching a new campaign to protect New Zealanders from higher water costs, unnecessary bureaucracy, and the loss of local ...

“Jacinda Ardern and Nanaia Mahuta want voters to forget about Three Waters before next year’s election. “The Government has no mandate, public support, or local council support for their expensive Three Waters regime. Our Scrap Three Waters campaign will keep the issue on the agenda and front and centre in the minds of voters.

The bill has been passed by Parliament, but Labour was the only party to vote in support, using its majority to get it over the line. Earlier in the week it ...

"It turns out that infrastructure, which includes big subdivision developments, wastewater and stormwater networks, and drinking-water treatment plants, is the perfect place for long-term institutional investors to invest. "There are billions of dollars in private and institutional capital looking for a home right now," he said. That's why we voted against it." the reality is they fell short. National, ACT, the Green Party and Te Paati Māori all voted against the reforms, formally known as the Water Services Entities Bill. "When King Tūheitia made the comment back in 2015 around 'we own the water', that's exactly the stance of Te Pāti Māori is that we are the true active kaitiaki of the water, we own the water, and that hasn't been recognised in that particular bill. "The tribunal has indicated that the rights and interest for Māori and mana o te wai hasn't been settled, that there is encouragement for whānau, hapū, iwi to be negotiating those aspects and we've had 150 years of watching the crown make a mess of our wai." The party had voted against the legislation at its second reading too, and co-leader Rawiri Waititi said that was because it did not acknowledge the rights and interests in water "There is so much private institutional capital - in KiwiSaver funds, ACC, and superannuation funds - floating around the world, right now, that is looking for a place to invest. "Most mayors and councils across this country support the need for reform, to improve water infrastructure, but strongly oppose this bill as a means to achieve those ends," he said. She was interrupted by opposition MPs while saying the government was "100 percent committed to ensuring our water assets remain in public ownership", and said they should make the same commitment to New Zealanders. "The Greens withdrew support at the third reading because the bill doesn't contain protections on the privatisation on our three waters assets if a future government wanted to change the legislation," Sage said.

Waikato-Tainui's Te Arataura Chairman Tukoroirangi Morgan is calling it a watershed moment for New Zealand -- and particularly their tribal members.

Councils aren't planning on backing down against the Three Waters reforms. The first of three bills passed its final reading in Parliament yesterday, allow.

The first major Three Waters reform bill has been approved into law but Labour was the lone party supporting the controversial legislation.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Manuta says her three waters reform will allow the upgrade of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater services without ...

Labour has provoked this response because it has confused the issue by continually arguing that the reason for reform is to make drinking water safer to prevent ...

Its 18,700 ratepayers pay about $44 million a year, but the Council has total debt of $44 million, much of it incurred for a wastewater plant in Mangawhai. “ “There will be a customer-focused system that improves outcomes for end users through leveraging technology, data and information, and customers will know their role in the water system and the value of water and will feel that they are able to participate as and when as appropriate. That was the substance of a submission from the Auditor General to the Select Committee considering the legislation. That idea that addressing the failure of councils to invest in water infrastructure would require that they merge their efforts was reinforced when InfrastructureNZ led a delegation of lobby groups, local government representatives and infrastructure providers to Scotland in 2017. An example of the pressures that three waters infrastructure can place on a Council is evident in the Kaipara District Council. And that is the core of the case for the reforms. As a start, the plan proposed the coming together of three Waikato local bodies, Hamilton City, Waipa and Waikato District Council as a pilot to explore the benefits of working together on three waters issues. “Three waters projects may be one of the first areas of spending that will be cut, which would compound pre-existing under-investment.” “This is because of the prioritisation decisions that many local authorities will be considering to cushion the blow to ratepayers and manage debt/revenue ratios,” it said. The implication of the anti-three waters campaign led by the right-wing Taxpayers’ Union that a repeal would lead to restoring the status quo is unlikely to be viable. The immediate consequence of that is that she is ready to announce the chief executives of the four super water entities, probably before Christmas.

Three Waters being stormwater, wastewater and drinking water which, at the moment, local councils are responsible for. But the Government thinks they aren't up ...

And that four new water authorities are going to be the game-changer. In case you’ve forgotten, by the way, why was it that the Government thought we needed a game-changer in the first place? And so, on the basis of that, he doesn’t think the fight is over. Because he wants to make sure they don’t stray from their commitments to repeal and replace the Three Waters legislation if they become government. Because, as we saw yesterday, Labour’s got the numbers in Parliament - it’s got the majority - and it can do what it likes. The Greens pulled the plug because they don’t think the legislation goes far enough to prevent the privatisation of water supplies.

OPINION: Behind the politics and pantomime, the south must recognise the real perils it faces, Clutha District Mayor Bryan Cadogan says.

For a single pensioner 20 years ago, rates equated to $1 in every $13 of their income. Already we were seeing financial stress manifesting in cost-cutting measures like doing without a car, cutting back on insurance, food and medical expenses. As the momentum grows to change the present four entity structure, alternative scenarios are fraught with hidden ramifications. OPINION: Some would say it was more good luck than good management that I managed to avoid the southern mayoral malaise and sneak back in for another term. Already back then the single largest expense she faced was council rates. I would prefer to say that we have deliberately prioritised projects to protect the people we serve, but it’s impossible to restrain costs, especially in this inflammatory environment, and if we get out-manoeuvred and find ourselves in an all-new-nightmare southern entity in a very few short years we will find ourselves with rates that I predict will correlate to $1 in every $4. I do not say this lightly. In time the politics will fade away and we in the south could be left with a model lacking the population mass required if we do not remain clinical and understand the dynamics at play. The only way the south could be in a worse shape is if we teamed up with the West Coast. [politics and the pantomime](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/130453286/everyone-agrees-to-change-three-waters-but-no-one-agrees-what-the-changes-should-be), and the true and very present danger for the south is completely lost. There is so much to do in the next three years, and there are endless external pressures that are going to unavoidably make life difficult, but I suspect that success will pivot on one issue - Three Waters Reform - and quite frankly I am sick of it. Whatever the case, I am rapt to be back and have the chance to finish what I started.

Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon says lobby group would hold National and Act to their promise to repeal and replace the legislation, should they be elected ...

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Labour's Three Waters legislation continues to go from bad to worse, National's Local Government spokesperson Simon Watts says. “Just three hours after ...

“It’s clear that this is the stuff Labour didn’t want to talk about while this was being debated. “Worse still, the amendments the Government plans to ram through contain the final provisions to confiscate the water assets that are currently owned by New Zealanders through their local councils. “This new Bill is longer than the original Bill, adding additional responsibilities relating to the Treaty of Waitangi and treaty settlements, more assessment and regulatory functions, and the pricing and charging of water.