Grigg Nicola; McAnulty KieranNICOLA GRIGG (National—Selwyn): Thank you Madam Chair. I want to pick up actually on a little bit of what Simon Court over in the ACT Party was talking about with regard to subpart 4 amendments to the Local Government Act. I'm fascinated by the wording of new clause 31 in Schedule 1AA inserted by clause 35(8) where we're talking about the long-term plan to take effect for all or any of the 2024/2034"—and related documents. Particularly in new clause 31(1): "(a) water services are to be transferred from the local authority to a water services entity during [that period] … 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years; (b) the implications of and any significant risks associated with the transfer" and also the council must report "(c) how the council is planning to deal with the implications of and any significant risks associated with the transfer".I don't think anyone's talked much this evening about entity "I" and that is my part of the world. It takes in Canterbury and the West Coast in it. It is approximately at this point in time and it may well change about 14 councils in the regional representative group. As we know there'll be 14 representatives on that regional representative group and of course 14-ish mana whenua.The Minister's talked a lot this evening about balance sheet separation. I just want to submit to the Minister that there are vast differences in this entity. In particular if you look at the wide deep rate base that is enjoyed by Christchurch City Council and indeed by the Selwyn District Council collectively I think we'd be close to 700000 residents across both those and I'm not even including Waimakariri Ashburton and further south.But to the Minister when we're talking about how councils are now going to be mandated to outline to their communities matters like the financial implications and risks of this merger this mega merger what does the Minister say to the likes of the Selwyn District Council or the Christchurch City Council—how are they supposed to be able to communicate to their residents to their ratepayers about the risk when they are quite clearly going to be subsidising councils on the other side of the main divide in Buller and West Coast - Tasman in that lovely part of the world that Maureen Pugh does such an excellent job in? These are light and day literally on two sides of the South Island. These councils have light and day between their balance sheets so how can the councils on the eastern side of the divide communicate to their residents in good faith about the risks and financial implications that they will be having to deal with because of being forced into this merger?Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Minister of Local Government): The boundaries of course were debated in Part 1 but in terms specifically around communication and risk there is significantly more risk to these individual councils if reform does not occur. There are savings for each ratepayer in each of the councils in every entity that is proposed. Nicola Grigg: That's simply not true.Hon KIERAN McANULTY: It is true. We can back it up. We've provided numbers. We've asked the National Party to provide numbers on numerous occasions over many months and they haven't done it. They're not doing it because their numbers don't stack up. Our numbers have been peer reviewed on two occasions. They've been reviewed again by rating agencies. Yet again we can prove that these reforms will save ratepayers money. That's the end of the story."