9. Question No. 9—Local GovernmentRACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson) to the Minister of Local GovernmentQuestion No. 9—Local Government9. RACHEL BOYACK (Labour—Nelson) to the Minister of Local Government: What recent reports has she seen about water infrastructure in New Zealand?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Local Government): Fa'afetai tele lava. I've seen reports released by the Department of Internal Affairs yesterday which provide New Zealanders with a clear picture of the urgent problems our water services and infrastructure face. The reports include analysis of the economic benefits of reform by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS) independent reviews of WICS' methodology by Farrierswier and Beca and an analysis of the effects of the proposed reform on the economy and affected industries by Deloitte. Together the reports confirm the need for major reform to upgrade and maintain our water infrastructure protect our environment and avoid unaffordable increases to household bills. They identify investment of between $120 billion and $185 billion needed over 30 years to ensure New Zealanders' drinking- waste- and stormwater infrastructure meets acceptable public health and environmental standards. The reports also highlight the economic benefits we can unlock by tackling these challenges such as job creation and an increase in GDP and tax revenue.Rachel Boyack: What do these reports say about the affordability of three waters services into the future?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: Without reform average household bills in 2051 are forecast to range from $1900 to $13900 a year. This is simply unaffordable for many communities. For example in Auckland it's been recently reported that water bills could double in less than a decade. Central and local government accept that the current arrangement of 67 council water providers is not working. The Government is proposing a small number of large publicly owned water service providers. Under reform proposals with three to five providers those figures would be much less ranging from $800 to $1800 a year. The modelling underpinning the reports is based on data provided by every council. I'd like to acknowledge their hard work and the expertise of council staff that helped us put together this data.Rachel Boyack: What do these reports tell us about the potential impact reforming New Zealand's water services could have on our economy?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: Thank you for the question. The Deloitte economic impact report finds that every region in New Zealand is expected to be positively impacted through the reform with provincial and rural areas estimated to benefit most. Benefits include an increase in GDP of between $14 billion to $23 billion in current dollar terms over 30 years an additional 5800 to 9300 fulltime-equivalent jobs across all sectors. The water sector workforce is forecast to increase by 80 percent an increase in average wages associated with improved productivity and more high-skilled jobs in the economy and additional tax receipts of about between $4 billion and $6 billion.Rachel Boyack: What other challenges are the reforms proposing to address?Hon NANAIA MAHUTA: I believe that all communities should benefit from this reform. Every New Zealander irrespective of where they live should be able to drink water safely from the tap. It is unacceptable to have sewer pipes bursting on city streets and sewage seeping into our waterways. It's intolerable that there are communities like Te Kao in New Zealand that do not have potable water supplies and are still on a regular boiled water notice. That is why the Government is working to address the challenges facing these critical services and the communities that currently fund and use them.