Watts SimonSIMON WATTS (National—North Shore): Yesterday I said that this bill was a 134-page severance letter to Labour's backbench and I can tell by the way that those members on the opposite side are looking that they agree with that statement. It is more than that. This is about the spirit of this Government and their approach. National will oppose this bill and we will fight for our communities every step of the way. National will repeal three waters.New Zealand's infrastructure challenges are substantial and the very human cost of those challenges was laid bare for us in the tragedies that began this work. Every person in this country deserves tap water that comes out clean and drinkable but that is not the reality for some of our communities. That has to change. With this legislation we step out of the problem into the ideological realm of one size fits all and Government knows best". Then comes the flip and we're suddenly told that if we don't support this reform we must support the status quo or—worse—that we don't care. I reject that statement as do millions of Kiwis around this country. National opposes this bill for a number of key reasons. Any reforms need to work with local communities not against them.The opposition to this reform has been resounding. Advocates and community leaders have packed public meetings in town halls across this country from the Far North to the deep South. Labour has told us that they are listening to their communities. Well I want to see those MPs on the other side turning up to those town halls and listening. Through their actions and a sham of a consultation they've shown us that public and council involvement in these reforms is an afterthought. For me it's a bottom line: representation.I want to talk about a few aspects in this bill. The bill's primary purpose is to establish water entities and governance but I want to talk a little bit deeper about some of those aspects around the representation arrangements. At first it's around council representation. At its core this is simply a maths problem. There are only seven seats on the regional representative groups yet in entities B C and D there are 22 local councils. There's no way to describe this any better: small councils and small parts of our community and our country will not have a voice at that table. Their voice will not be heard and they will not be represented. When I speak to those local communities and those local councils I hear a genuine concern for the fact that these mega entities will drown out the voices of their ratepayers. The best that this bill does is offer an advisory panel. Well that is absolutely an insult to local government and our local communities and is no substitute for representation around that table. One of the most important things as local government spokesperson for National is actually getting out there and getting out on to the ground with our local communities. They've copped a lot of flak through this reform process and this Government has been very happy to lay the blame at their feet. National takes a different view. I want to thank our councils and our community leaders for the work that they do for our communities often under what are significant challenges in their areas.The second issue I want to deal with is around representation arrangements and co-governance. Let me be very clear: National opposes a 50:50 co-governance model baked into the core of this bill. At both levels of representation—the regional representation and the advisory panel—there is a 50:50 split between council representatives and those appointed by mana whenua. A co-governance model of public services is something that National will not support. This is a significant departure from the arrangements that National worked on and set up in regards to the Waikato River and so we will not be supporting that. For decades now we've talked about two fundamental parts of our democracy: about having equal voting rights for all New Zealanders and secondly accountability at the ballot box. Now this bill will change both elements of those things and discard both of them. The reality in this bill is that when you strip everything away this is about pipes in the ground. Kiwis want those things to deliver and co-governance will not help us achieve that goal. Pipes do not differentiate based on race.The function of these representation panels is also an area I want to get into. Earlier this week I questioned the Minister about how councils could affect decision making when they need a consensus of 75 percent and they only have 50 percent of the votes around the table. The Minister said it didn't matter and that only relates to privatisation and mergers. The only thing you can vote on is to do something no one has any interest in doing. National does not support privatisation and it is clear that no major party in this House does either. Let's be clear: Kiwis want accountability. These reforms are not accountable.I said earlier that this bill is about pipes in the ground. The single-biggest issue underlying our challenges in local government is around sustainable funding and financing. The projects require secure funding in order to deliver those services well into the future and they need substantial upfront investment when the benefits may flow over future years and I want to talk about two elements in regards to that. We've heard the easiest way to fund infrastructure is through economies of scale and that's pretty reasonable but when you look at the entities and how this is formed in this bill that completely falls apart. The only example you need to look at is entity C which spans from the top of the East Coast in the North Island to Nelson at the top of the South Island. Any claims about benefits when you realise that Gisborne and Nelson are in the same entity—despite being in different islands in this country. The second shows how much Labour cares about the stability of these entities. On day one before a single measure of pipe is laid these entities will be in debt because Labour couldn't sell these reforms: $1.5 billion of borrowing offering councils to try and buy into these reforms. That money can be spent on pretty much anything. So on day one the balance sheet of these entities will already be in debt and having to pay commercial interest rates. That could be nearly $100 million a year in interest payments alone. That shouldn't surprise anyone because this Government is addicted to debt and they are kneecapping these reforms before they even start.The second point I want to talk about is in terms of value for money. We know that the cost-benefit analysis in regards to these reforms has not been robust and it has not been substantiated. Labour has a majority in this House and they will use it today to ram through this bill at first reading. MPs on the other side of the House will ignore their local communities and back these reforms. Sadly there is nothing in this entire process that gives me any hope that this Government will listen to any feedback through the select committee process that will follow and I expect they will simply treat that feedback as another rubber stamp and pat themselves on the back and say "Job well done." Well this Government continues not to listen to Kiwis and our communities but we are. National hears the voices of our local communities. National has the backs of our local communities and local government across this country. National will repeal three waters."