11. BRENDON BURNS (Labour—Christchurch Central) Link to this
to the Minister of Local Government
Can he explain what he meant in telling the New Zealand Community Boards Conference in Christchurch last Friday that the new drinking-water standards being implemented are “ridiculous“ and under review by the Government?
Hon RODNEY HIDEDoes the Minister maintain that it is “ridiculous” for rural communities such as Cheviot in the Kaikōura electorate to expect safe drinking-water, when Canterbury’s medical officer of health has warned that he will declare a public health emergency if the township’s supply is not urgently improved?
On taking over the job as Minister of Local Government, what I found to be “ridiculous” was that representatives of local government were coming to see me complaining about the tens of millions of dollars of cost being imposed on them by the previous Government. When I went back to Ministry of Health officials, they disputed the order of magnitude of those costs. I have undertaken to get a proper assessment of the costs, as I think is prudent, and they will be put before us by 9 April. I have also written to the Minister of Health and said that, in the meantime, we should put this on a moratorium. I think that is quite reasonable. It is ridiculous to impose this cost without knowing what it will actually cost.
Can the Minister confirm whether the Government will maintain the $136 million in funding being provided over 10 years to assist small communities to achieve safe drinking-water standards?
One of the problems we have with that is that it is another promise that the previous Government made without setting aside any of the money. The second problem is another one that we have constantly come across: the money that has been promised is woefully inadequate, because the costs that local government has cited total $700 million—for example, $56 million in Taupō, $20 million in Thames-Coromandel, and $20 million in Hauraki. What I am saying is that before proceeding we should get an assessment of what this will cost and what will be required.