12. Question No. 12—Local GovernmentSIMON WATTS (National—North Shore) to the Minister of Local GovernmentQuestion No. 12—Local Government12. SIMON WATTS (National—North Shore) to the Minister of Local Government: What is the total amount that has been spent to date on the Government's Three Waters reform programme including development and communications and does she believe that this represents good value for taxpayers' money?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): The total amount spent to date is $569 million and it does represent good value for taxpayers' money and real benefits to ratepayers. Significantly $523 million of that total amount spent to date was stimulus funding and was provided to councils during the COVID period to invest in waters infrastructure work. This resulted in 291 kilometres of drinking-water pipe upgrades 159 kilometres of waste-water pipe upgrades 101 drinking-water treatment plant upgrades and 128 waste-water treatment plant upgrades. Simon Watts: What value have taxpayers got from the $523 million of stimulus funding given the public still overwhelmingly opposed these reforms?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: A lot of value. A lot of work was brought forward to be able to ensure that people continued to be employed and work was being done. For example the Western Bay of Plenty District Council used their funding to support infrastructure at local marae and papa kāinga housing enabling them to upgrade their on-site effluent waste-water system or to connect them to council's waste-water network. The infrastructure's had a significant impact in these communities to not only minimise environmental effects but also to ensure sanitary conditions for residents. Let's go on. Waitomo District Council used its funding to upgrade its water treatment plant to meet the demands of their community which surges during the summer. It allowed for the installation of the new sand filter and dual UV disinfection at the plant providing improved water clarity and treatment resilience to the drinking-water supply for the community and visitors. In Ōpōtiki that district council used its funding to upgrade its degraded water supply pipe along Te Rere Pa Road and this greatly improved the water supply pressure and fire flow to these communities their facilities and residents.Simon Watts: Does she believe it's acceptable that the Government has spent over $40000 this year on a communications reset and why are Kiwi taxpayers paying the price for her Government's failure to sell three waters?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I do believe that it's important to ensure that ratepayers have good information and the amount of funding spent in the communications space enables that.Simon Watts: Can she explain to the House what a three waters virtual Australian roadshow is and why it cost taxpayers over $100000?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I can explain that. And if the member had read the reply to the written request that he received he would have found out that that amount of money went into ensuring that we could connect councils to a comparative example in Tasmania so that they could learn what another model of a similar nature to what they were seeking looked like. What it enabled actually was for councils to connect with real-time information from a comparative example in Tasmania so that they could ask the questions they wanted to ask around the benefits of aggregation.Simon Watts: Does she believe it's acceptable that the Government spent almost $15000 on developing a job description for the CEO of the proposed water entities?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: Let's not misrepresent the amount that was spent and what it was for. The $15000 spent also went to ensure that a recruitment process was able to be achieved—including interviews—so that job descriptions for newly established water services entities could be created. And when we think about the fact that these are new water services entities of a size and scale where we need to create new job descriptions for CEs that will have a significant role I do think it's a fair amount spent. Simon Watts: What does she say to New Zealanders struggling in a cost of living crisis seeing that the Government has spent over $16 million on consultants for Three Waters in the last year alone?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I would add that without reform taxpayers and ratepayers would be paying significantly more over the next 30 years when our water infrastructure is forecast to require $120 to $185 billion of investment in the network. That money's got to come from somewhere. If we don't do anything—if we do nothing—which is what the Opposition is wanting then ratepayers will be paying more taxpayers will be paying more and the Government really doesn't want to see that. Simeon Brown: Stop the fake news; stop the fake news.SPEAKER: Simeon Brown will stand withdraw and apologise. Simeon Brown: I stand; I withdraw and apologise. SPEAKER: Yeah and now you'll do it properly. Simeon Brown: I withdraw and apologise.