Three Waters reset: Iwi leader Tuku Morgan happy with Government changes

The Waikato River Authority has a 50/50 Partnership Board. Photo / Hamilton City Council

Tainui chair Tuku Morgan says iwi around Aotearoa will be jumping for joy with the changes to the Government’s contentious Three Waters reforms.

Morgan, who was last year appointed to lead the northern Three Waters Iwi body, said they had last week met Ministers Kieran McAnulty, Willie Jackson, Kiritapu Allan and Kelvin Davis and had three bottom lines that they would not budge on.

The iwi leaders make up the Water Forum and Morgan said their concerns were warmly received by the ministerial delegation.

Tainui chairman Tuku Morgan says iwi are over the moon with the Three Waters reforms. Photo / NZME

“We are happy that we reached a shared decision. When we met the ministers last week there were three issues we wanted the Crown to hold fast on,” Morgan said.

“And they have delivered.”

Morgan said three issues are:

· The 50/50 Partnership Board - not a co-governance board.

“The Partnership Board better characterises the direction we want to head to as those boards have their foundation in Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” Morgan said. “Even when we get to the 10 boards, we will have a greater voice and equitable say across councils in those 10 rohe [area], so from that point of view, we are euphoric - we are happy with the result.”

· That entity A - which goes from Tamaki all through the north - remains. “The basis of our support is that we need size and scale to ensure affordable water rates are achievable outcomes in the next 20-30 years. From an intergenerational point of view, we are heading in the right direction with size and scale so the remote iwi and hapu who have been left off the council priorities will get looked after.”

Morgan said the third and final winning point was “Te Mano te Wai - mana of the water - will have special status.

“Even though there’s a provision for communities to have a priority status, it will not in any way shape or form, overshadow, minimise, or compromise the standing of Te Mana o te Wai standing being provided by iwi and hapu,” Morgan said.

“Those are the three points we debated with the ministers and we got what we wanted. I am very, very happy.”

Urban Māori leader John Tamihere is pleased with the reforms.

Urban Māori leader John Tamihere said the reforms were a “good solution.

“What it does is uses the existing infrastructure of existing authorities,” Tamihere said.

“So there can be no contest about democratisation, consultation and stakeholdership.”

Tamihere said the issues are: “Is this reform package required? “Yes it is. Those who say no no no, what would be their alternative?

“The second issue is if rural New Zealand doesn’t want to be part of the reforms, they won’t be able to afford it going forward.

“Under no circumstances should central government fund rural communities out of their own stupidity.”

Tamihere said sparsely populated areas - which are rural - have been the most vehement against Three Waters and would like to see an opt-out option.

“We would like this to be a coalition of the willing,” he said.

“Different authorities can opt out and not be covered by central government funding - from an urban Māori point of view that’s what we would like to see.

“Ultimately rural New Zealand will come screaming to urban New Zealand to fund them out of their problems when they should have accepted the package now.”

Tamihere said from a co-governance lens, “the reforms have watered it down more than people think.

“The reality is there will be an appointment process taken, but a lot of the areas are already bespoke, for example, the Waikato River Authority already determines a 50/50 split as does the Whanganui River Authority,” he said.

Northern Iwi leader Mariameno-Kapa Kingi, who represents Aupouri and Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa, said the reforms - or rebanding of Three Waters - retained mana for whānau.

“For us it means that we are more than the voice of whanau, hapu and iwi; we are the designers and the decision makers, and that is a great start,” Kapa-Kingi said.

“As the new owner of a water supply infrastructure in a small Maori community in the Far North, it reflects the aspiration and confidence we have in ourselves to be, do, and have the outcomes that matter to whanau, hapu, and iwi in place.

“Clean drinkable water is not an unreasonable thing to expect wherever you live in Aotearoa. Unfortunately, in rural Taitokerau and Te Hiku, you must boil it or buy it. Surely, we can do better!”

South Island Iwi Ngai Tahu said they would work with councils to progress the reforms.

“Ngāi Tahu will work with councils within its takiwā [boundary] to ensure the success of the water infrastructure and services reform announced by government,” co-chair of Te Kura Taka Pini (the Ngāi Tahu freshwater group) Professor Te Maire Tau says.

This means “Entity D”, which would have serviced the Ngāi Tahu takiwā and comprised 22 council areas, will be replaced by two entities, with a third South Island entity north of the takiwā.

Tau said that Ngāi Tahu had supported the four-entity model legislated just before Christmas through a long consultation period and there was no need for sudden changes to that model, which could leave smaller communities struggling with finances. However, the iwi would work under the new approach in the interests of reaching the ultimate shared goal of safe, equitable and financially sustainable water services for all communities.

“The Government has made a trade-off between more localised council representation and control on the one hand, and administrative efficiencies and economies of scale on the other,” Tau said. “We see the Ngāi Tahu takiwā as an integrated whole of waterways and catchments, and so our preference remains a single takiwā entity involving all councils and greater fiscal sustainability. This view is shared by some councils.

“Today’s announcement remains a significant improvement on the pre-reform status quo, where ratepayers faced an uncertain future of unsustainable cost increases and service failures. It will bring us closer to equitable, safe and financially sustainable water services throughout the country, after decades of underinvestment.

“Ngāi Tahu will continue to work in good faith with the councils within the takiwā towards this goal, along with improved health and environmental outcomes, including in those local authorities and rural communities with lower population bases.”

“We will share our commercial and governance expertise, and our knowledge and scientific research into the geology and hydrology of water catchments in the takiwā and encourage a collaborative approach for the benefit of all our communities.”