A $44 million fund being offered to help councils transition to the new three waters system - at least $350,000 per council - is just bribery, Opposition parties say.
Associate Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
In a statement, Associate Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty said the government acknowledged the short-term pressure the three waters reforms would put on council resources.
"I've been meeting rural and provincial councils and one thing I've heard consistently is that councils are facing significant demand on their staff time and resources and this fund is being established to assist with that," he said.
"The three waters reform is the largest change local government have faced in a long time, and is creating additional work for councils who are already under strain from staff shortages, winter illness, and Covid."
Officials recently revealed an IT project to get related computer systems linked up was expected to cost between the high tens of millions and $500m, and could put additional pressure on councils in the lead-up to the handover date of 1 July 2024.
Rural and provincial councils have also raised concerns over the raft of reforms affecting them, and complained central government agencies were poaching their staff.
McAnulty said $350,000 would be made available over 12 months to councils, regardless of their size, on top of the "better-off" funding promised by the government a year ago.
He said the cost of the transition was dwarfed by the estimated $185 billion needed to bring infrastructure up to modern standards and prepare for future challenges like climate change and population growth.
The government's three waters reforms shift management of drinking, waste and stormwater from 67 councils to four large entities, which will have responsibility for overseeing the investments required, and meeting the standards set by water regulator Taumata Arowai.
McAnulty said he had met with 21 councils since taking the portfolio and planned to meet with 34 more, and despite councils' varied stances on the reforms, those he had spoken to understood the need for reform and the current system was no longer fit for purpose.
"Without reform, a household would face water costs of up to $9000 per year, or the prospect of services that fail to meet their needs," he said.
'Good old-fashioned sweetener'
National Party Local Government spokesperson Simon Watts said the government was simply throwing money at the reform programme in another desperate attempt to buy support.
He said National did not support the funding as it would not achieve any improvements in local government services, nor would it help the government get support.
"Communities and councils that I've spoken to said this is a desperate attempt to try and buy support, [it] does not deal with the underlying issues that these councils have with this reform programme."
"This is on top of the $2.5b allocation the government has already used to try and, in effect, buy the support of local governments across this country to their failed reforms."
ACT Party Local Government spokesperson Simon Court also said Labour was resorting to bribery to get its reforms across the line.
"When people are squeezed from every direction, Labour is using taxes to bribe councils and ratepayers," he said.
He said the money was not required to be spent on water-related infrastructure.
"It's like Labour aren't even trying to pretend it's anything less than a good old-fashioned sweetener."