2. Question No. 2—Local GovernmentSIMON COURT (ACT) to the Minister of Local GovernmentQuestion No. 2—Local Government2. SIMON COURT (ACT) to the Minister of Local Government: Does she believe the Three Waters reform programme will result in better outcomes for ratepayers; if so why have so many councils rejected Three Waters?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): Yes and most of the local government sector agree the status quo is not working. The changes proposed by the Government are designed to deliver safe reliable drinking water; a financially sustainable way of investing in infrastructure long term; better environmental outcomes—all of which are affordable for ratepayers in every community big and small and we've demonstrated that in the modelling.Simon Court: When even former Labour Party leader Phil Goff has said It is not appropriate to cede control over this infrastructure to … mana whenua" isn't it time for her to drop her plans for co-governance of three waters assets?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I reject the premise of that question if it is promoting co-governance. In fact what I'd like to acknowledge is that Mr Goff is a member of the governance working group did participate in some significant discussions around how to strengthen the governance representation and local voice aspects of the reform and I thank them for their work. In relation directly to the point raised by the member Mr Goff raised very specific views in relation to the Watercare arrangements and Auckland's interests and those are ideas that he has long held.Simon Court: What evidence does the Minister have that co-governance of three waters entities will result in better water infrastructure being delivered so that people like South Auckland woman Jing Zhang who it was reported was unable to move into her new home for over two years due to water connection issues will be able to get their water connected?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: There were two spokes to that question and to some extent if I go to the first part regarding co-governance I just want to paraphrase the view of the chair of the governance working group which is that there is some misinformation out there in relation to the issue of co-governance. That is not in fact a feature of the three waters model that I have been promoting and in fact the whole idea of ensuring that mana whenua participation alongside council at the representative level will deliver total sum benefits for communities big and small and certainly to ratepayers.Simon Watts: What does she say to Auckland mayor and former Labour leader Phil Goff who said "a one-size-fits-all approach does not meet our needs."?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: The facts of the matter remain which is that we have had decades of under-investment in waters infrastructure around the country. People have been kicking the can down the road for far too long and we're a Government that's not prepared to do that. What I will say to Mayor Goff in relation to Auckland: Auckland has received the benefit of aggregation of water service delivery and the creation of a council-controlled model through Watercare so it is in a very different position. But what I would also like to add to that is that the view of the governance working group which I think brought some fresh thinking into the conversation was that those recommendations continue to benefit every community even Auckland.Kieran McAnulty: What would she say to rural and provincial communities many of whom are facing hundreds of millions of dollars of costs over the next few decades if reform of the water services does not continue?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: What I would say is that there is hope because the reform programme that we're embarking on will deliver benefits to every ratepayer around the country from communities big small provincial rural urban and metro. And what we have shown through the modelling is that the benefits of aggregation balance sheet separation the ability to ensure that communities are getting value for money and that it is affordable for all ratepayers—by and large the Three Waters Reform Programme that we are proposing delivers on all that range of challenges."