- Hon Simeon Brown
The Government has approved the Watercare Charter to keep Auckland's water services affordable, saving households about $899 million over four years while ensuring improved service quality and record infrastructure investment to unlock housing growth in Auckland says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says the Watercare Charter which was developed by the Secretary for Local Government in consultation with the Commerce Commission and Auckland Council will deliver key benefits for ratepayers, including:
- Saving Aucklanders approximately $899 million in water and wastewater charges over four years.
- Setting minimum service quality standards to improve response times and reduce service interruptions.
- Enabling record infrastructure investment averaging $1.3 billion annually from 2025 to 2028.
"Aucklanders overwhelmingly rejected Labour's expensive and divisive Three Waters reforms. Our Government acted swiftly to repeal those policies and restore local control of water assets," Mr Brown says.
"In May, the Government addressed Watercare's proposed 25.8 per cent water rate hike by enabling the financial separation of Watercare through our Local Water Done Well plan. This critical reform ensured Aucklanders were shielded from unsustainable rate increases.
"By financially separating Watercare from Auckland Council, Watercare will now become subject to interim economic regulation with the Government putting in place a Watercare Charter for three years prior to the Commerce Commission undertaking full economic regulation from 2028.
The Watercare Charter will focus on service improvements, while also enabling an average of $1.3 billion of capital expenditure by Watercare annually from 2025 to 2028. This will maintain and renew Auckland's water infrastructure, while supporting increased housing growth.
"Infrastructure is vital for our cities to thrive, and because this Government listened and worked with Auckland Council, we delivered a solution that ensures Watercare has the flexibility and revenue certainty to fund future water infrastructure projects," Mr Brown says.
"This approach also frees up Auckland Council's own balance sheet to support it to invest in other critical infrastructure, supporting growth across the city.
"The Commerce Commission will now act as the Crown monitor to monitor performance against the Charter prior to implementing full economic regulation of Watercare in 2028, which will be extended to all water service providers once the Local Government Water Services Bill is passed into law next year.
"I want to thank officials from the Department of Internal Affairs, Auckland Council and the Commerce Commission for working closely together to deliver this Charter which will help keep costs down for consumers, while supporting record investment in water infrastructure in our biggest city."
