8 August 2013
MANA Candidate Underscores Right to Water in Regional Council Campaign Opening
The right of everyone to have free access to water will feature in the launch of MANA's campaign for the Greater
Wellington Regional Council.
The launch will have a group giving away water while another group tries to sell it.
Candidate Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati says that proposals for a super city and a proposal that all councils should
charge for the use of water by volume could lead to the commercialisation of water. She says that people who are already
struggling financially will find it hard to pay water bills.
The Greater Wellington Regional Council's proposal for local government reform is very much like the Auckland super city
she says. In Auckland many of the services are now run by Council-owned profit-making companies and all properties now
have water meters.
Greater Wellington Regional Council Chair Fran Wilde also chairs the Local Government Infrastructure Efficiency Task
Force, which has produced a report whose recommendations include compulsory water meters for everyone says Ms
Paretutanganui-Tamati.
The campaign launch will take place at the Bucket Fountain, Cuba Mall at 2pm on Saturday 10 August.
ENDS