Dear John,

It seems scarcely believable that last night people were again being rescued by boat, and roads were looking like rivers as heavy rain returned to pound parts of the upper North Island. And yet again, communities rallied to help and support those who were stranded. We don’t only need to catch a break, New Zealand needs to ensure it has good emergency management plans in place everywhere.

All this rain has really focused people on their drinking water, stormwater and wastewater services. Even without catastrophic weather events, in many places sub-standard systems and pipes are wasting water, creating pollution with discharges of sewage and the longer things aren’t fixed, the bigger the bill that’s coming.

The unpopular and undemocratic Three Waters scheme that Labour pushed through Parliament is not the answer. It grabs the water assets – paid for by generations of ratepayers – away from local councils and hands them to four mega entities to run. What’s more, the mega-entities have co-governance imposed on them, regardless of local communities’ wishes. No wonder that when I drive along roads around the country, I see “Repeal and Replace Three Waters” signs everywhere.

Today, at the Bluegreens forum in Blenheim, I announced how things will change under National so that New Zealanders get safe, reliable drinking water, stormwater and wastewater services, and improved water quality in rivers and beaches – all while restoring council ownership and control.

You can watch my full speech here.

John, National will:

One – Repeal Labour’s Three Waters legislation and scrap the four mega-entities, with prescribed co-governance, that goes with them.

Two - Restore council ownership and control, but with stronger central government oversight because we’re not simply going back to the old way of doing things that hasn’t worked.

Three – Set strict rules for water quality, and for investment in water infrastructure.

Four - Ensure water services are financially sustainable so that future generations don’t inherit outdated or failing infrastructure.

You can read more about our announcement on National's policy priorities webpage.

Financial sustainability means there’s enough money coming in, either from rates or from user-pays, to cover the maintenance and depreciation of infrastructure and investment in new assets. We’ll require councils to ringfence money for water infrastructure, instead of spending it on other services. New infrastructure is expensive, but has a long life so it’s appropriate that it’s funded by long term debt, and paid back over time out of rates or user revenues.

I’ve said many times that National will be all about getting things done that will help New Zealanders get ahead. Local Water Done Well is a good plan. It will keep water assets and control in local hands and secure long-term investment in water infrastructure so that New Zealanders can be sure their water services are safe and affordable.

Between now and the election, I’ll keep you in touch as National continues rolling out practical policies about the things that matter to you.

Have a good weekend,
Christopher