Stuart Smith
MP for Kaikoura
Spokesperson for Climate Change, EQC and Viticulture
There has been a noticeable awakening in the last couple of weeks; more of the public is becoming aware of the implications of the pernicious He Puapua plan that the Labour Party sought to keep secret. It seems that we have Sky News Australia to thank for informing many New Zealanders about He Puapua, with Andrew Bolt’s show featuring an interview with Dr Muriel Newman.
This was shared on social media. Dr Newman’s New Zealand Centre for Political Research, NZCPR, has picked up on this after the National Party made public a leaked un-redacted copy of He Puapua.
There has been very little coverage in local media. Perhaps the Government’s $55m Public Interest Journalism Fund, which goes to the media with significant strings attached, particularly on promoting te reo Maori and the Treaty has led to this. Whatever it is, Sky News has awakened many to the threat that is He Puapua.
The Three Waters policy fits with the He Puapua plan, which proposes granting iwi rights to all fresh water and it also proposes that Councils will in turn pay Maori for water. NZCPR has put together a one-page information sheet on Three Waters but suffice to say that we should all be concerned about this proposal; this will only succeed if good people do not stand up and oppose it.
The first thing to do is to contact your Councillors and Mayor and submit on Three Waters, something the Government didn’t want Councils to allow you to do. The Local Government Act requires Councils to include the transfer or sale of significant assets such as water infrastructure to be included in their long-term plan, which requires public consultation. Muriel Newman points out in a recent post that “Minister Mahuta, however, plans to over-ride those statutory requirements and strong-arm local councils into agreeing to her proposals through a Local Government (Three Waters Reform) Amendment Bill”.
Meanwhile, two Christchurch City Councillors have called on their Council to cancel its membership of Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) as they no longer represent the views of its members. Their reason being that LGNZ signed a heads-of-agreement that stated that LGNZ would not actively oppose the Government making the Three Waters reforms compulsory. LGNZ seem to be acting as though the Government’s best interests are more important than their members’ interests.
Other peak bodies have behaved similarly and seem afraid to offend the Government as if they will gain some favour at the expense of their members best interests. We live in interesting times.
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