“The Labour Government is once again using a Friday while the Prime Minister is on leave to dump information,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Last week it was its next steps on He Puapua, this week it’s releasing its decision on Three Waters.

“Labour once claimed it was “the most open and transparent Government ever.” Labour’s now so transparent we can see right through them.

“Three Waters and He Puapua involve major constitutional reform. They are issues that deserve sunlight and proper debate. It’s frankly pathetic from Labour to try to quietly release these on Friday while Jacinda is unavailable for interviews.

“Today the Government will give its preferred option for Three Waters, reforms most mayors disagree with and people feel so strongly there are billboards opposing all over the country.

“Simply shifting water assets from one government body to another is a recipe for more bureaucracy and less local input, not an enduring solution to upgrade water infrastructure in New Zealand.”

ACT’s Water Infrastructure Plan would:

• Provide for councils to enter voluntary “shared services” agreements, gaining the benefits of scale, while retaining local ownership and control

• Establish long term 30-year Central Government-Local Government Partnership agreements to plan water infrastructure upgrades tailored to specific regions

• Establish a Public-Private Partnerships (through our proposed Nation Building Agency) to attract investment from financial entities such as KiwiSaver funds, ACC, iwi investment funds, etc

• Expand the exemption from domestic supply for a single dwelling to also include all small water suppliers sup plying fewer than 30 endpoint users.

“The Government needs to start owning it’s decision making. I’ve seen less clumsy attempts to bury things from a three-legged dog.”

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