Labour's new PM and new minister this week dumped the contentious Three Waters policy in favour of a rebranded "Affordable Water".

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty and Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announce the "Affordable Water" plan.

"I think we've nailed it. Honestly, there's a balance to strike here" - Kieran McAnulty

Labour's new PM and new minister this week dumped the contentious Three Waters policy in favour of a rebranded "Affordable Water".

A not-so-subtle attempt to take the heat off and reclaim the narrative, they drove home the message of cheaper rates - but critics have continued to attack the plan as a new veneer of paint over the same unpopular plan.

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It's nearly three years since Labour first unveiled its Three Waters Reforms. Subsequently bogged down in fierce debate over co-governance and asset theft and hampered by a failure to clearly communicate why the reforms were needed, the government this week set out to sell their renewed vision.

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty - appointed less than three months earlier by incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins - was tasked with reviewing the plan to take water services management away from councils, and hand it to four mega-entities.

His solution was a more fragmented and regional approach with 10 entities, and a start date pushed back by two years to mid-2026. With it came the long-awaited explanation of why change was needed.

"Here's the guts of it," McAnulty began, in his trademark blokey style, "up to $180 billion local councils need to find and they can't do it by themselves because councils individually are at their debt cap - or if they're not, their communities can't afford to pay any higher rates.

"If they try to work together through a CCO (council controlled organisation) like Wellington Water, there's a limit to that because the debt that councils hold on their balance sheet still stays there, and if they try and do shared services it doesn't allow councils to be able to borrow the money they need to be able to fund this."

Read more:

Govt's Three Waters revamp: 10 entities, two year delay

Political editors panel: Three Waters gets a revamp

Labour and National continue to debate the numbers…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details