Political parties to discuss ‘dangerous’ water clause
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government will go to Parliament’s business committee to discuss a controversial clause in its Three Waters bill that has been deemed ‘‘dangerous’’ by constitutional law experts.
Labour and Green MPs voted through a new clause into the Water Services Entities Bill in a late stage of its progress through the House, aimed at guaranteeing public ownership of water infrastructure.
But the tweak to the prospective law caused outcry as it sought to ‘‘entrench’’ public ownership by mandating any future law change to require a 60% majority in Parliament, or a public referendum.
Such a super majority requirement has traditionally been reserved for constitutional matters in the Electoral Act.
‘‘We agree we do need to be cautious about the principle of entrenchment. Our plan is to go back to the business committee, discuss where entrenchment is used more broadly, and look to resolve the issue,’’ Ardern said yesterday afternoon.
Parliament’s business committee is a group of MPs from each political party, headed by Speaker Adrian Rurawhe, that determines how Parliament and its processes are run.
‘‘There have been those with a constitutional law background who have raised concerns around where entrenchment is used,’’ Ardern said. ‘‘We still stand firm against the privatisation of water assets, and I’d ask the other political parties to be clear on their view on that issue.’’
The Government had asked National to support entrenchment of public ownership by way of a 75% majority threshold months ago. However, although National said it had no plans to sell off water assets, it declined the offer.
The 60% threshold was put forward by the Green Party as a supplementary order paper on Wednesday and, with the support of Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta, was voted for by Labour. Without the support of other parties, a 75% threshold could not be set, as Parliament’s rules only allow majority requirements to be set at the same level of support for them in Parliament.
The Three Waters reform will create four public entities to manage drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems.
A group of eight constitutional legal experts had, at the weekend, written an open letter urging Labour to reconsider the ‘‘dangerous precedent’’ the entrenchment may create.