Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill

New Zealand First is very happy to be supporting this common sense piece of legislation through the House and we commend it to the House. Thank you.

It’s nice to be talking on the Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill. I think most of my colleagues have traversed this. I’ll just say, New Zealand is quite unusual. If you look around the world, in most jurisdictions there is some form of regulation of water and waste water. Australia has what’s called the Office of the Water Regulator, and, certainly, Britain has significant regulatory oversight powers, I was involved in that reform of the water industry for many years in Britain. So New Zealand seems to be getting to the stage—obviously this is the first of two bills, and I think it’s very important that we set adequate regulations, standards, to make sure the water quality is up to speed. In time, with the next bill, there’ll be more focus on waste water as well. But I think this is a good and important first step in that process. Obviously, there are some issues around funding and how the actual office is going to work, but I think it looks like it’s going to be a very interesting discussion and probably long overdue.

Tēnā koe e Te Māngai o Te Whare, tēnā koutou e Te Whare. The Green Party is very pleased to support the Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill.

Can I begin by congratulating the Minister, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, for her stewardship of quite major reforms in this space, working carefully through the issues, responding to the Havelock North inquiry, and working to bring a bill to the House that everyone supports. And I would also acknowledge the work of the Health Committee in hearing the submissions and making some changes. The fact that Taumata Arowai will become a Crown entity, independent of the Department of Internal Affairs, I think highlights the value of that independent role. The work that the select committee has done in terms of ensuring that one of Taumata Arowai’s objectives is to give effect to Te Mana o te Wai, integrating the reform here and drinking-water with the wider freshwater reform that Minister Parker is leading through the essential freshwater programme, but really ensuring that this organisation has real scrutiny of drinking-water supplies around Aotearoa, because of Havelock North—but not just Havelock North; a number of other areas: Darfield, Springston, Cardrona—where there have been outbreaks of gastroenteritis that have been quite severe, and where the supplies have not met basic standards in terms of bacterial protozoa contamination.

One of the key things for Taumata Arowai is its functions, and they include, in clause 11, identifying and monitoring “matters that affect the safety of drinking-water … including current and emerging contaminants”. This will be an increasing issue, I think, because of the recognition of the extensive contamination by nitrate of aquifers in areas like Canterbury, and the risk that that poses to people drinking those waters, the increasing scientific evidence of increased incidence of colorectal cancer when people are exposed to low levels of nitrate in water supply. Until now, we’ve focused on protozoa and faecal contamination, bacteriological contamination of our drinking-water, which caused such problems in Havelock North, but nitrate nitrogen is a really difficult contaminant, because once it’s in the water, it can’t be treated to remove it.

So the establishment of Taumata Arowai is very timely. I look forward to the following legislation, which will expand on its functions and the overall regulatory system, and am very pleased to support the bill.

Kia ora, Mr Speaker. Could I just thank all members, and I’m sure Kiwis all around the country, for the mark of respect shown a few moments ago to the memory of Constable Matthew Hunt. I’m sure that we all are united in grief, and we send our aroha and condolences to his family, and I’m pleased we were given the opportunity to show that respect here, in the House.

This is the second bill we have considered in succession this morning in the name of the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, and I’m pleased to say that, on this occasion, we are supporting the bill that she’s brought forward. It was, of course, dealt with by the Health Committee, which, as has already been noted, is chaired by Louisa Wall. I want to say that those are two members whom I hold in very high respect, and I have seen over many years how hard they work. Although I am not a member of the Health Committee, I have from time to time been subbed on to the committee by virtue of some of the portfolio responsibilities I hold within the National Party; and I’ve always been very impressed by the way in which the committee works, and that reflects well on the leadership and chairing of Louisa Wall, so ngā mihi nui.

💬 Louisa Wall: Kia ora. And we love the cheese.

Yes, we do indeed love the cheese. So it just shows—I knew that she was a woman of quality and good taste and she’s just shown that yet again. And go the Chiefs against the Hurricanes, both sides actually—they’re getting to the point where they’re particularly hungry, and I’m looking forward to a great game when that one happens. But we’ve got the Crusaders to get past first. Anyway, we’ll get moving right along.

As I say, I am pleased to support this bill, which, of course, arises out of the terrible contamination of water that befell the community of Havelock North just a few years ago. It’s something that is very dear to my heart because I was married in Havelock North, and my parents-in-law still live there. In fact, I noted in the House last night that they were celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary, so a lovely occasion for them. But I do recall what a frightening time it was for the residents of Havelock North, and I thank the Minister who noted that four people lost their lives as a result of that. So clearly, it’s a very significant issue and all steps that can be taken to improve the regulatory framework and overall management of water quality—to ensure that New Zealanders have the absolute assurance that the water they are receiving and consuming is safe—is naturally something that we all want to be able to ensure, and it’s a responsibility I’m sure we all take very seriously.

This bill, of course, as has been noted, is only one part of the measure. There’s probably a more substantial bill still to come, but it is, nevertheless, something that reflects the concerted efforts of all members of Parliament to ensure that things are improved. So, again, I commend the Minister for the leadership she has shown in bringing this bill to the House; and I thank the Health Committee for the work that they have done, listening to submissions, making suggestions on how the bill can be further improved—that’s showing Parliament at its best, that’s how select committees should be able to work well, and I’m pleased that it’s happened on this occasion.

This is a split call. I call Michael Wood—five minutes.

There is little that is more basic in life or that is more central to the function of government at all levels than providing the necessities such as water in a safe manner to citizens. There are clearly problems that have been left for too long in this sector in terms of how we structurally ensure that in our country, and those failings have been evident. I’m really proud that under our Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, this Government has picked up on that issue, is making progress on it, and that we’ve been able to work carefully to build a high level of political support and consensus across local government in other key parts of the sector to make these much-needed reforms. I commend this bill to the House.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As you’ve heard, National supports this bill. The Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill establishes Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator. It will be a Crown agency and it will provide for objectives, functionings, operation principles, and governance arrangements, and those governance arrangements include the establishment of a board and of a Māori advisory group. We are told that this is a first step in a broader package of reforms to the three waters regulatory system. I do agree with the previous speaker, Michael Wood, who says the time has come for this reform.

That broader package of work will introduce system-wide reforms. It’s about regulating drinking-water and source water, and it’s about new regulations to improve the management of waste water and storm water. Now, National supports the establishment of an independent water regulator. We see it as a logical response to the Havelock North water inquiry. When we were in Government, we had already done a significant amount of work on a water regulatory framework. But, of course, establishing the Crown agency is the easy part of the water challenge. The real debate will come around the scale and scope of the upcoming reform, especially around potential future costs. All water supplies, all councils, and, in fact, all ratepayers are sensitive to increased costs and are concerned about ongoing expense. We’re particularly concerned about the cost to smaller drinking-water suppliers and smaller communities that have a limited ratepayer base to pay for it. In a country with so much fresh water, we cannot make water supplies unaffordable. We fear that some communities could be hit by huge debt in the long term.

The question is really about whether the drinking-water standards need to be raised for small suppliers and small communities, or whether compliance with the existing standards should be the focus. So as I said, National supports the establishment of this agency but sees real challenges ahead for New Zealanders and for Taumata Arowai in delivering a fit for purpose, affordable water supply, and an effective management of both wastewater and stormwater.

I believe we are beginning to see a pattern developing here—a pattern of small, incremental legislative change, when really, as Michael Wood said, we need real reform. We’ve seen it in the Government’s limited amendments to the Resource Management Act. We’ve seen it in the Government’s limited amendments to Te Ture Whenua Maori Act, and we’re seeing it here in the face of the need for a new water regulations system. In each case, New Zealanders need and are crying out for significant reform, and in each case the work is challenging. In each case, the Government has spurned comprehensive reform and has brought in interim legislation which merely nibbles at the edges of these problems.

In National, we believe that necessary reforms should be done in a timely manner. Necessary reforms should be done efficiently and, of course, necessary reforms should be effective. Do it on time, do it once, and do it right. But as a small first step towards a bigger picture of reform, National supports this bill.

In rising to just take a short call on this Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill, I wish to note the extraordinary need there is for reform in the water sector, as my colleague Michael Wood has spoken about, and the extraordinary programme of work that the Minister of Local Government, the Hon Nanaia Mahuta, has started on. It is now starting to flow through into the House and further beyond. It is a large programme of work and she has undertaken it in her usual style—slowly, steadily, and getting it right, without undue haste, without recklessness, about getting it right. This is starting to bear fruit now. It’s coming through, in good time. I commend this bill to the House.

Kia ora, Mr Speaker. This bill, the Taumata Arowai—the Water Services Regulator Bill, is a very important bill; National supports it. It does three things. The first one is it sets up the regulatory body, which will be a Crown agency. There’s going to be further advice sought on waste water and storm water, and we know that that’s a big issue around the country, particularly in our cities. If we look here in Wellington, there is an issue with storm water and sewage, and what have you, going into the harbour, and it is an issue in Auckland, which they’re grappling with.

It also develops a Māori advisory council, and I want to acknowledge the chair of the Health Committee, Louisa Wall, and thank her for her good leadership on this. Not that I was on the Health Committee, but I understand it worked incredibly well on this bill together, and all of the recommendations from officials have been picked up. Thank you.

It is often said that the next wars will be fought over water. It’s good to see that peace has broken out in this House over this very good reform. I commend this bill to the House.

Bill read a second time.