Dear Friend,

It’s taken two-and-a-half years of hard yakka, but finally Nanaia Mahuta’s Three Waters has been Stopped!

Together, we STOP(ed) Three Waters!

Earlier today, Parliament voted to repeal Nanaia Mahuta's divisive Water Service Entities Act – a historic moment for New Zealanders and a huge moment in our biggest campaign ever!

Mahuta tried absolutely everything to lock-in her undemocratic piece of legislation. The last Government spent millions bribing councils into supporting the reforms and hired hundreds of back-office pen-pushers within the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) to try and contractually screw the scrum and make this repeal impossible.

Chris Hipkins even tried to slap a new name on the same co-governed model and hoped Kiwis wouldn’t notice!

Even when Three Waters looked certain, you kept fighting…

With your support, we covered the country with Stop Three Waters (Scrap Three Waters) signs and ensured hundreds of councillors around the country came out against the reforms during the 2022 local elections.

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders attended our roadshow events up and down the country and ensured the voices of local communities were heard loud and clear in Wellington.

Make no mistake, Friend – without your help, this would never have happened. You continued to support the fight, even when we were up against the wall.

Even with a change of government, victory was never a sure thing. Christopher Luxon, and the National Party were weak on this issue to begin with – and even when they said they would Scrap Three Waters, it took them more time to commit to scrapping the 'co-governance' in the replacement.

Old fashioned 'people power' made Three Waters one of the biggest political issues last year. That forced National, ACT, and NZ First to respond.

So after winning the politics, today represents the first step in winning the policy.

But what comes next, Friend?

Now we must ensure the replacement isn’t just Three Waters 2.0.

Let’s not kid ourselves, Friend, this fight is not yet over.

We all see the way our media is dominated by those who believe big, dumb, centralised, and co-governed public services are the way to go. It's up to us at the Taxpayers' Union to stand up to these special interests – and don't think they've given up!

The Wellington bureaucratic blob are doing everything in their power to influence the new Government and ensure that the replacement to Three Waters still hands over effective control to unaccountable bureaucrats.

You might recall in December, the bureaucrats at DIA were trying every trick in the book to weave a web around the Three Waters legislation to make it impossible to get rid of. There’s no doubt that given a second chance, they will do whatever they can to push their own agenda and seize local control.

Among the officials tasked with advising the new Minister on the replacement to Three Waters are some of the very officials who tried to undermine efforts to oppose Nanaia Mahuta's model. 

We cannot allow defeat to be snatched from the jaws of victory 🥊

Don't get me wrong, I like Simeon Brown, and think he has what it takes to deliver as the new Minister for Local Government. But even delivering on National's own policy in this area will be difficult when those around him do not have his (or ratepayers') interests at heart. We can't down tools quite yet.

We thought National's guarantees about tax policy were cast iron, but now we are learning that after just a few short months in power, the Government is shepherding through Labour’s 39% Trust Tax-grab, and Labour's so-called 'App Tax' on Uber drivers and holiday accommodation providers (among others).

But the fight’s not over yet, and we need your support to make sure the Government is both equipped to stand up to officialdom, and doesn't take the easy option (supported by the media!) and sleepwalk back into a Three Waters 2.0.

Thank you for your support.

Jordan Williams Executive Director New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.