The Government has today backed down from parts of its controversial Three Waters policy with a new approach which scales back the reforms. Felix Desmarais explains what all the fuss is about.
A National MP has called it a “schmozzle”, while the Government has repeatedly said it’s the solution to an untenable status quo.
What is Three Waters - or, as it’s now called, Affordable Water Reforms - and how did we get here?
The reforms were triggered by a 2016 campylobacter outbreak in Havelock North which left four people dead and thousands sick.
In May 2017, under the previous National Government, an official inquiry criticised councils for failing to safeguard town water supplies. By June, then-Local Government Minister Anne Tolley proposed a cross-agency review of the three waters - stormwater, drinking water and wastewater - to Cabinet.
In July 2019, a Government inquiry into contamination recommended a dedicated water regulator and stronger Government stewardship of wastewater and stormwater.
Q+A's Jack Tame digs into why the water reform programme has caused such a strong backlash. (Source: Breakfast)
A year later in 2020, the Labour Government launched its Three Waters Reform programme. At the time it was estimated to cost $761m. The Government also passed the Taumata Arowai Water Services Regulator Act, which created the water regulator Taumata Arowai.
Optional - but not for long
At the time, the Government said the scheme was optional for councils to participate in. Several councils indicated they weren't fans of the scheme and their intention was to opt out.
In June 2021, then-Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta provided more detail on the reform, including the four-entity model. That would establish four water services entities across the country. The Government argued this scale would allow for the amount of borrowing needed to fund infrastructure upgrades - something smaller councils cannot do.
The Government changed tack, making the reform compulsory. It offered councils $2.5b to opt into the reforms, aiming to leave no council worse off from the reforms and ensure consensus.
In September that year, the Water Services Act passed, which handed drinking water regulation from the Ministry of Health to Taumata Arowai.
At the end of 2021, Communities 4 Local Democracy emerged, a group of - to date - about 30 councils opposed to Three Waters reform. Their main arguments are that the reform would undermine local control of local assets, not produce meaningful mana whenua involvement and undermined public accountability.
In April 2022, then-Auckland mayor Phil Goff said the reforms didn’t seem fair to Aucklanders because Auckland Council owned 93% of assets in its entity but would only have about 28% of the voice in its governance.
In June last year, the Water Services Entities Bill was introduced to Parliament, which would establish the four new water service entities.
Three councils - Timaru, Waimakariri and Whangārei District councils - also took the Government to court, seeking declarations over the rights and interests that property ownership entails under the water services entities - the bid was rejected by the High Court in February this year.
The same month, a “Stop Three Waters” roadshow traveled the country.
Mayor's alternative - not picked up
In late 2022, new Auckland mayor Wayne Brown, alongside mayors from Christchurch and Waimakariri, proposed an alternative scheme to the Government’s. It was not picked up.
The Government courted controversy in November 2022 when it attempted to entrench a clause preventing the privatisation of water assets. It was later called a “mistake” by then-Leader of the House Chris Hipkins and was removed.
In December 2022, the Water Services Entities Bill passed and the Water Services Legislation Bill was introduced to Parliament - another part of the legislation to implement Three Waters reform.
At the time, National MP Chris Bishop called the reforms “a schmozzle” and the party's local government spokesman Simon Watts said Three Waters was “one of the most controversial aspects of public policy in this term of government”.
The poll reveals how many people say they have a good understanding of co-governance in the context of Three Waters. (Source: 1News)
National leader Christopher Luxon said mayors and councils did not want the reforms, while Mahuta said it had “not been an easy set of issues to address” but the Government wanted to “assure our children and their children that they will have safe drinking water”.
In January 2023, following the resignation of former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, a Cabinet reshuffle under Chris Hipkins’ premiership saw Mahuta replaced as Local Government Minister by Kieran McAnulty.
Last week, Chris Hipkins told The Hui Mahuta had been left to defend Three Waters alone for too long, while the NZ Herald reported the total cost for contractors and consultants on the reforms at the end of 2022 was more than $50 million.
The water services entities were due to be established in July next year.
The National Party has previously, and repeatedly, said it would repeal the reform if elected to Government at the October general election.
SHARE ME