COMMUNITY RALLIES AGAINST WATER PRIVATISATION

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: Tuesday 8 June 2010

COMMUNITY RALLIES AGAINST WATER PRIVATISATION

Community groups from all around the country will gather at their local town hall or council offices on Saturday 12 June from 12-2pm to protest against privatisation of water and other public assets.

Rallies are being organised for a National Day of Action Against Privatisation at town halls throughout New Zealand, as well as in Australia, and the organisers hope to get a good turnout from the public. In West Auckland the Grassroots Action Group (GAG) is working with others to put on the event at Waitakere City Council.

“No one should profit from water - it is a natural monopoly, a necessity of life, and a human right,” says GAG spokesperson Mels Barton. “The Government is making it easy for private companies in New Zealand to do exactly that and selling our water to foreign investors.”

On Tuesday 4 May 2010 the Local Government Amendment Bill passed its first reading in New Zealand Parliament. While the government is denying this, the Bill allows councils to privatise water. They will be able to:

* Enter into contracts with private companies to run water services for up to 35 years (the current limit is 15 years);
* Allow private companies to own and control water infrastructure for the duration of these contracts (the current legislation requires councils to retain ownership and control of water).

The long-term leases the Bill allows for are the dominant model of water privatisation in the world. It is very rare for councils or governments to sell off the water asset entirely. Long-term leases work in the private companies’ favour as they can make profit from water while the public sector retains long-term costs and responsibility.

Internationally the model that has been proposed is shown to lead to higher water costs, less accountability and reduced services. The global water industry is dominated by two mega companies Suez and Veolia. A subsidiary of Veolia is United Water who is already active in New Zealand.

Mels Barton says the event is very important for the public to attend. “We will be encouraging people to make submissions to the select committee on the Government’s proposals and give them the strong message that privatising New Zealand’s water is not an option.”