Right to safe water should be universal

New Zealanders deserve to know why their Government did not support a UN resolution which affirms the rights of an estimated billion people whose supplies currently are not safe to drink, says Labour water spokesperson Brendon Burns.

New Zealand was among 41 nations which abstained on the resolution put overnight at the UN General Assembly, with the votes of 124 countries seeing it passed.

“The resolution was non-binding in affirming that it is a human right to have safe drinking water and sanitation,” Brendon Burns said.

"It's worth noting that while the UN is debating the rights of people around the planet to fresh water, 1 in 6 New Zealanders continue to drink water that is not safe or not tested.

“The National Government has put a three year moratorium on meeting the World Health Organisation’s minimum guidelines for safe drinking water. It has also frozen now for 11 months the funding Labour put in place to assist small communities to meet WHO recommendations.”

Brendon Burns says the UN resolution is sponsored by Bolivia, where the Government came to power after street riots threw out the previous administration, which was trying to privatise the nation’s water supplies.

“The National/ACT Government is currently trying to ram through a bill which would allow councils to privatise water supplies for 35 years.

“This has led to public warnings from health authorities that the government’s policies could cause major outbreaks of water-borne illness,” said Brendon Burns.

“These are some of the issues that the UN resolution attempts to address by upholding the right of everyone to have safe drinking water and sanitation. Labour believes that should include New Zealanders.”

ENDS

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