How to safeguard water assets against privatisation
The Green Party’s Eugenie Sage maintains that drinking water is a fundamental human right and that safeguards against privatisation deserve to be entrenched in the Water Services Entities legislation.
As a member of the Select Committee Ms Sage will be aware of the risk of takeover by foreign water companies if the four water services entities get into trouble trying to borrow the $187 billion or more to fund their work.
This is probably why she says in a newspaper article that “councils should retain real ownership of water assets and infrastructure”.
For two years the Labour Government has been telling us that the requirement of a 75 per cent parliamentary
majority would guarantee that councilowned water assets would never be privatised.
Thanks to Eugenie Sage everyone in New Zealand knows that the 75 per cent parliamentary majority was never a goer.
Instead it seems to have been part of a cynical ploy designed to gain public “buy-in” for the Government’s
Three Waters reforms based on confiscation of water assets which have been funded by generations of New Zealand ratepayers.
We just need a truly independent national Water Regulator.
The rest of the legislation should be ditched. (abridged)
Pauline Doyle
Spokesperson Guardians of the Aquifer
Action on road signs
Pleased to see old road signs are to be replaced.
Is it too much to hope that ‘Give Way’ signs can be placed on the two large roundabouts on Pakowhai Rd?
Currently being used as overtaking lanes by those drivers who like dicing with death on a daily basis. Don't think so?
Try it on a regular basis and be prepared to swear a lot.
R Marshall
Hastings