Wellington water war: Andrew Little blasts minister over looming bills, demands urgent price oversight
Thursday, 26 March 2026
Wellington mayor Andrew Little has hit back at Local Government Minister Simon Watts over the large water bills coming down the pipe, saying he can’t bring them down alone.
In a blistering letter to the minister, Little expressed “surprise“ about Watts’ public statements singling him out and noted that he was just one vote on the new water entity, which was attempting to enact the Government’s own water reforms.
Little has also called for Watts to bring in the Government’s competition watchdog, the Commerce Commission, to stop water prices under the new water entity spiralling to uncontrollable levels.
On Wednesday Tiaki Wai, the organisation which will take over running Wellington, Porirua and the Hutt Valley water infrastructure, released its draft water services strategy.
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The strategy was a requirement under the coalition Government’s water reforms, Local Water Done Well, which replaced Labour’s Three Waters.
It showed the average household across Wellington City, Porirua and Hutt Valley now pays about $2100 a year for water, albeit via rates. Come July 1, it would be a standalone bill and an average of $310 would be added.
On Wednesday afternoon, Local Government Minister Simon Watts made a comment to media that the numbers in the strategy did not reflect the plan he’d received.
“The number at which they’ve published is different, and that’s a problem, and I’ve raised that to them, saying that, you know, I have an expectation that, you know, you deliver upon the plan that you present.”
Watts also said he had spoken to the Wellington mayor, as a shareholding council in the water entity.
“I just outlined to him that, you know, we received a plan from you which outlined a profile of cost increases, and as a result, the entity has now published a price which was not in the plan, which is much higher.”
In a letter to Watts, seen by The Post, Little said he was “surprised” by the minister’s comments given they’d discussed the plan over the phone that day.
“I thought we shared a view that the trajectory of water price rises set out in the draft Water Services Strategy is unacceptable.”
Little said the draft water services strategy was developed alongside the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA).
“I did not present you with a plan last year. Tiaki Wai presented projections to DIA via the Government’s legislated water services delivery plan and have now issued a draft water services strategy based on current realities.”
He said he did not, nor did other council leaders, have the power to direct the new water entity alone.
“For the avoidance of doubt, neither I, nor any of the region’s metropolitan mayors, nor any of the partner councils, have the legal ability to set aside the requirements of the Local Water Done Well policy and legislation, nor individual shareholder clout to unilaterally direct Tiaki Wai.”
The mayor said he’d be happy to meet with the minister again alongside other mayors to “get a shared understanding of the challenges of delivering water services in Wellington and the unacceptable trajectory for water bills under Local Water Done Well”.
He said there was a real opportunity for that conversation to form the start of a regional deal discussion with Wellington’s leaders.
‘Runaway price increases’ for water
Little said in the letter he had raised with the minister that there were insufficient tools in the Local Water Done Well policy for councils and regulators to prevent runaway price increases by water organisations.
“In our meeting along with the Prime Minister on 9 February 2026 I explained that I campaigned on advocating for rapid phase-in of full Commerce Commission oversight (price quality) of Tiaki Wai to ensure prices are fair.”
The letter said he asked the minister again on Thursday to urgently prioritise Commerce Commission oversight given it was only months till Tiaki Wai came into force.
What did Simon Watts say in response to the letter?
Local Government Minister Simon Watts told The Post he’d received the letter regarding his comments.
“My comment was referring to the fact that Tiaki Wai has five shareholding councils, of which Wellington City Council is one. I acknowledge the council itself did not submit the plan.”