In the blue corner
There is no doubt that water quality and water infrastructure in New Zealand is not up to scratch. Pipes are regularly bursting at the seams in many parts of the country, some rivers and lakes are not swimmable and the Havelock North waterborne disease saga remains etched in many of our memories as a terrible incident for that region and New Zealand.
The way the Government want to change water is through its disastrous and divisive three waters campaign.
Even though it was recently revised after much public outcry, it still seeks to snatch local water assets from councils and ratepayers who have owned them for decades and put them in centralised control. Further than that, those centralised control agencies will have the co-governance element added to them, where Iwi will be able to veto any decision that is made.
That is not the way to solve our water and water infrastructure problems. I am a strong believer that locals know how to get things done much better than any centralised agency with Iwi control. All
New Zealanders have rights and interests in water, not just a select few.
Local councils have been in the business for decades, and yes some of them have not managed their water assets well, but stripping them of their right to own them and managing it from afar is not the way to go.
National’s Local Water Done Well policy will scrap Labour’s undemocratic and unworkable Three Waters model and replace it with a sustainable system that ensures drinking water, stormwater and wastewater remain in local control.
The substandard status quo where pipes are too often allowed to fail, creating pollution, wastage and massive bills for ratepayers, will not be allowed to continue under a National government.
National will also set strict waterquality rules, which means that throughout the country there will be a single standard of quality. Councils will also be required to demonstrate a clear plan to deliver ongoing investment in water infrastructure. They will be required to ringfence money for water infrastructure and not spend it elsewhere.
The unswimmable water, undrinkable water and broken infrastructure need serious attention. But the solution to the problem must involve everyone and be done at the local level, where people affected by the changes can have their say.
The current undemocratic three waters plan is costing the country hundreds of millions of dollars and will not deliver cleaner and better water services.