Pugh Maureen; McAnulty KieranMAUREEN PUGH (National): Thank you very much Madam Chair. I would like to make a small contribution to this Part 4 of the Water Services Entities Bill because it is of great concern to rural communities which we're hearing a lot about from my colleagues. Sadly we're not hearing a lot about it from the Government.One of the concerns that I have has been raised by my colleague Simon Watts and that is around accountability and I have concerns around the statements—the ability for these entities and mana whenua the iwi and hapū of local areas to be able to make these statements which become binding. But then I wonder about the conflict that that may create with the Government's own policy statements and the statement of intent because there is no guidance on those statements that iwi and hapū can make. So what happens if there is a conflict between what those local statements say and the Government policy statements and the statement of intent of each of those entities and are those entities all going to have the same statement of intent or is there going to be one that is common across all four of those entities? I wonder if the Associate Minister of Local Government could respond to that about how we then become accountable to the former owners of those assets in terms of how those statements might impact on them and other water bodies. We've heard that it's now five waters" but I actually have to wonder whether it could become "six waters". I use my own example at home because I have a naturally flowing creek that we source our drinking water and our stock water for the farm out of. Now if there is a local statement made around those waterways is there an imperative then on the users of those waterways to pay some kind of a fee to the water entity in that area—which would be the bulk of the South Island being covered by that one. So how can we have a guarantee that those existing use rights are going to be preserved? I know that the Minister has said many times about water assets and supplies and all of the associated infrastructure with three waters but if we're creeping into "five waters" and I suggest maybe even "six waters" then how can we guarantee that the users of those assets which—and I call the water supply that I use a very valuable asset. How can you maintain control of that if the authority for it is given off to an entity?The analogy clearly is that if your name is on the ownership papers of a vehicle and that vehicle is stolen you still technically own it but have you got any control over it? You might get it back in pieces or you might find it burnt out somewhere. That's the fear that we have with the reputation of this Government: that these water assets across the country are seized and that the outcome is going to be typical of the outcome of every other centralisation project and experiment that this Government has undertaken which is that locals lose control. Locals lose the services that they used to receive from those entities like those in our tertiary education sector and like our health services and then we are left with a burnt-out shell that a National Government is going to have to turn around and try and repair.So if there are some guarantees that we can get from the Minister that we are not going to creep into "six waters" and that local supplies can be guaranteed existing use rights that would be great if the Minister could respond.Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Associate Minister of Local Government): I'm not even going to address the speculation and scaremongering around six seven eight nine 10 waters. This matter has been addressed in the committee a number of times and it's been very clear that it is three waters. They can scaremonger all they like. I think it's an attempt to hide the fact that they still don't have a single policy on this issue. But on the matters that she has asked her question I do have an answer here. Those documents that the member referred to serve different purposes. The Government policy statement will state the Government's overall direction and priorities for water services and Te Mana o te Wai statements will be a unique expression of kaitiakitanga from mana whenua in relation to specific water bodies."