Grant Robertson today told the New Zealand Herald that Three Waters reforms would "end up in the courts immediately" if they did not include co-governance. 

The Government previously published cabinet papers including a summary of the legal advice Nanaia Mahuta presented to cabinet to argue that it was necessary to make the Three Waters entities co-governed. The Government has since lost a court battle to get the summary removed from the public domain, but continues to refuse to publish the advice in full. 

New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Callum Purves, said:

“We know from polling that these reforms do not have public support. They will lead to higher water costs, unnecessary bureaucracy, and a loss of local control and democratic accountability. The mayors of our two largest cities and Communities 4 Local Democracy have put forward pragmatic alternative proposals, but they have been largely ignored.

“If the Government is intent on railroading these reforms through without the support of New Zealanders, it should at least be open and transparent about its reasons for doing so. Ministers like Grant Robertson keep alluding to potential court challenges should water reforms not include elements of co-governance yet they are trying extremely hard to keep the legal advice presented to cabinet a secret. 

“The Government should publish this legal advice—that is having such a fundamental influence on their policies—in full and let New Zealanders make up their own minds.”

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