Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has signalled a possible backtrack on the Government’s last-minute clause “entrenching” public ownership of water assets, after constitutional legal experts raised “legitimate” concerns.
Speaking to RNZ on Monday morning, Ardern said Cabinet would “discuss” the Government and Green Party’s change to the controversial Three Waters bill, after the Opposition and legal experts criticised it as posing a danger to the constitution.
“No-one is backtracking from the idea that we shouldn’t privatise water assets. There are a number of protections already in the bill around that. We’ll have a discussion about the principle of entrenchment, because we’ve heard those concerns and I think they are legitimate,” she said.
The Government and Green Party MPs on Wednesday evening voted through a new clause to the Water Services Entities bill that meant any future law change allowing public water assets to be sold would require a vote of 60% of Parliament or a successful public referendum.
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The move effectively “entrenched” public ownership of water assets by insisting on a super majority of 72 MPs, more than the usual majority of 61 MPs a Government needs – something no other law requires except of constitutional aspects of electoral law which require a 75% majority to be changed.
Dr Dean Knight, a leading constitutional law expert at Victoria University, said the entrenchment posed a “real danger” of allowing more law to be similarly entrenched in the future, without the support of the whole Parliament.
A raft of constitutional legal experts have petitioned the Government in an open letter to reconsider the “dangerous precedent” the entrenchment may create.
Ardern said the Government agreed entrenchment “should be used rarely”.
Tom Lee/Stuff
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Cabinet will ‘discuss’ an entrenchment provision in Three Waters legislation the Government voted through last week.
“Cabinet intends to have a bit of a discussion today [Monday] about that principle.
“There’s a few things about the situation that were a bit quirky. So that’s why we’ll be having a conversation around about it today.”
Ardern said the majority of parties in Parliament agreed that public ownership of water assets should be protected.
The Government had sought cross-party consensus for the entrenchment of public ownership of water assets but, failing to gain a commitment, the Water Services Entities Bill was progressing through the House without such a provision until Wednesday evening.
Both Labour and Green Party MPs voted through the entrenchment provision, produced as a supplementary order paper, as the Government worked to pass 24 bills under “urgency” last week. The Water Services Entities Bill was expected to have its third reading – a final stage in the legislating process – when Parliament returns for a final two weeks of sitting this year in December.
Officials from the Department of Internal Affairs had previously advised MPs considering the bill that such entrenchment was “inappropriate” for a law that was not about constitutional issues.
Green Party local government spokesperson Eugenie Sage, who put forward the supplementary order paper, said on Sunday the entrenchment would not set a precedent for future lawmaking, as overturning it required 60% support and not 75% as with electoral law.
“We think it’s important public policy that deserves recognition in the law.”
“It is a key issue for the Greens and a lot of the public that three waters infrastructure and assets should remain public ownership, that was a major concern. So we want to have a responsive democracy where the law reflects issues the public have raised.”
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