Both Labour and National to blame for $1.2b Three Waters blow out

Tuesday, 13 February 2024

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announces that Three Waters will be replaced by the new government's Local Water Done Well scheme, which returns water management to local bodies. (Video first published February 12 2024.)

Tova O’Brien is Stuff’s Chief Political Correspondent and host of the political podcast, Tova.

ANALYSIS: It’s effectively been circling the drain since its inception - a slow, gurgling mess that pissed far more people off than was probably necessary - but with a decisive pour of caustic drano National has finally killed off Three Waters.

In just eleven days the Government will pass a bill repealing ‘Three Waters’ and thus beginning the process of replacing it with ‘Local Water Done Well’ - reaffirming the received wisdom that governments, no matter their stripe, are a bit rubbish at naming things.

There are similarities between Labour and National’s plans to address the water crisis.

New entities will need to be created to shift debt around and borrow more to fund water infrastructure separately from the councils’ own balance sheets, the councils can also band together - a bit like they were under Labour’s reworked ten entities - and the new water regulator, Taumata Arowai, which was set up by Labour will also be kept.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon, and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown announcing the death of Three Waters

Also, National’s starting to look “out of control” on working groups, something it repeatedly and vociferously accused the Labour government of. The Technical Advisory Group it announced on Monday to help with water is the third such group it’s established in two months.

There are differences too of course - city dwellers who drove through almost any part of rural New Zealand this summer will have seen the ‘Stop Three Waters’ signs and billboards still punctuating the highways and farms.

Time will tell if even repealing Labour’s legislation will see the signs come down but the strength of feeling against Three Waters has been unmissable.

Both Labour and National to blame for allowing race row to brew over Three Waters

Not least because of the race row that brewed and was allowed to grow fetid by both Labour and National over the co-governance element on the water boards.

The key difference between the two parties’ plans is the matter of autonomy.

Under National, councils choose whether they bundle together to form the Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs), councils choose the level of involvement of Iwi and mana whenua and councils put forward their own long-term water plans.

The opposition to Three Waters was immense

But the council control isn’t absolute. A ‘regulatory backstop’ will be built into the legislation which - although the minister was light on any detail - basically means if central government doesn’t like what local government’s up to with water, they can step in.

A bit like the current threat Local Government Minister Simeon Brown is dangling over Wellington Council, the prospect of sending in a Crown Observer if it doesn’t start plugging the leaks which see 50% of the capital’s drinking water wasted.

One not insignificant potential issue with all this council control is council cash - the councils will have to pay.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says if the government doesn’t guarantee the new debt water bills will double or fixing the pipes will stop.

Pay to set up the CCOs, pay the bill for the poked pipes, pay back the loans - the lot.

Central government will not be stumping up any cash nor will it be underwriting any of the new borrowing despite Christopher Luxon saying in February last year, when he announced the election year policy, that they might provide funding on a “case-by-case” basis.

For councils, all that money and all that liability usually means one thing for homeowners - rate hikes.

People gathered in Pukekohe to protest against the implementation of the Three Waters proposal.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has previously said if the government doesn’t guarantee the new debt, water bills will double in Auckland.

The last thing taxpayers and ratepayers need after the profligate use of their money spent - and then wasted - so far on advancing Three Waters then repealing it.

1.2 billion dollars.

1.2 billion dollars flushed down the dunny and leaked through corroding pipes in the sewagey waters of yet another once-was-pristine Auckland beach.

That’s the cost of advancing the Three Waters legislation - and then repealing it.

Eye watering wasteful spending that both the last Labour and current National governments take a share of the blame for.

Labour, for advancing contentious legislation without properly communicating it to the public and therefore failing to bring people with them or make amendments before the damage was well and truly done.

National, for repealing for the sake of repealing without finding a way to capitalise on what had already been spent or redirect funds to build on what Labour had started.

And both parties are to blame for choosing politics over consensus, for lacking foresight, for failing to put the needs of their constituents first.

All political parties agree there needs to be greater cross-party consensus across major infrastructure works - to stop the endless, time consuming, money wasting cycle of announce, repeal, announce, repeal that comes with every change of government.

If politicians from the two major parties set their differences aside a moment, sat in a room like grown ups, harnessed the vast power of the government bureaucracy with a joint mission and agreed means of how to tackle the water crisis, we wouldn’t just be $1.2b richer, we probably wouldn’t be in this wet hot mess to begin with.