Doocey MattMATT DOOCEY (National—Waimakariri): Thank you Mr Speaker for the call. I thought you hadn't seen me standing there for a moment there. Can I start by acknowledging as well the Health Committee and especially the committee chair Louisa Wall who I think ably chairs the Health Committee. It was a difficult time during COVID-19 to coordinate a gaggle of MPs and a range of submissions in a number of important bills we had in front the committee at that time. I know there was some criticism as to whether we should have continued with that but in the end respectfully we're all foot soldiers and we're just doing what we're told and the process proceeded. And here we are today at the second reading of this important bill the Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill which the National Party will be supporting.And of course the reason we are here today as many submitters noted during the inquiry into the Havelock North drinking-water issue the inquiry highlighted systemic failures with the drinking-water regulatory systems blurred accountabilities ineffective enforcement a lack of expertise and investment and a need for a dedicated well-resourced regulator. So that was the driver of this bill. We had 70 submissions and it was fair to say that most submitters agreed with the direction of travel with this bill and that's why this bill coming back for its second reading after being through the select committee process has only really had minor changes and minor amendments which we're supporting today.But I think what we don't want to do is get lulled into that sense of security that we have got it right so far. And that's what I want to talk about today in my call—the tensions within that because quite rightly it was a very emotive issue at the time but we as legislators need to make sure that we have good law. There was some concern that if we just view this bill this stand-alone bill on its own it doesn't really represent the full make-up of the systems. We've heard from previous speakers today about the Three Waters Review and other bills that will be introduced because of course they will be supporting each other. There was a real tension around the costs and if I can refer to the submitter the Waimakariri District Council who I obviously as the Waimakariri MP have a lot to do with. In their points of submission when they talked about the centralised regulatory body the bill is silent on who will fund the regulator and where the funding will come from. At present district water advisers the existing regulators are funded by central government via the Ministry of Health. So you can see that real tension playing out between councils understanding what will be the end result around compliance and cost and especially councils that might feel that they are on the back foot because they have a limited rating base. When you look at the Waimakariri they currently provide reticulated water supplies for 80 percent of the district's population from 14 schemes. And you'll find that they are a range of urban schemes as well as semi-restricted supplying rural and rural/residential areas. So you can see from that that there's quite understandably some apprehension about what this bill will end up looking like but more as to how it translates from the intent to the implementation. In the end this bill clearly is signalling the intent and we heard from the 70 submitters that they support the intent. We have what I would say so far is the full support of all the parties in Parliament but the real concern is what the cost of the implementation will be. But I think what we should point out also in contrast to that is that the cost is a valid argument but of course the cost of doing nothing is more of a valid argument in my mind because not only is it the cost of providing safe drinking-water to New Zealanders but the cost of not providing that is a real concern in terms of health and social costs which we saw in Havelock North.When you look at the monetised benefits of these reforms as stated by the Department of Internal Affairs it ranges from $13.5 million to $16.5 million. So we need to weigh that up. There will be up-front costs. There will be real pressures and tensions as each jurisdiction has a different make-up and a different profile about how they'll be able to respond to that. And in an area like Waimakariri the electorate that I represent—I cover parts of Christchurch City Council and Waimakariri District Council—you can already see this tension playing out as to what will be the cost of the compliance and delivery for metropolitan areas and provincial and rural areas. So that's why we welcome this bill. But we do look forward to the introduction of the next bill which will make up a more complete picture. We do look forward to further regulations coming through that will help enable local councils to make informed decisions. They know that they are going to have to take a step up. There was a real concern that came out of the submissions that a lot of the capability of the professionals sits within local government at the moment and with this new Crown entity that might take that capability and capacity out of local government so that would be a concern as well. I look forward to supporting this bill and debating it next in the committee of the whole House. Debate interrupted.