November 30, 2025 • 6 mins
Local councils will have to foot the $48 billion bill for the Government’s new water reform ‘Local Water Done Well’.
Nick Mills talks with Chairman of Tiaki Wai Metro Water Will Peets on how the reforms will work. They discuss the effects on ratepayers, how the bills will work, the change from Wellington Water and the appointment of new CEO Michael Brewer.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks. B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Will Pete is the chairman of tr q Y and
he joins us now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Will, Good morning, Nick.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Tell me the difference between TIQY and Wellington Water.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
That's a good question. So some people may know that
Wellington Water manages the water functions on behalf of the
councils and Wellington. So that's the four councils, Wellington Polydor
Huts of the upper huts and also the Regional Council.
So they do all the work, so they organize the
(00:49):
maintenance crews and things like that, but they don't own
the essets. The councils still owns the esset and the
council still makes all of the spending decisions. The difference
with Tiaki why is that the councils transfer their assets
to us. And the importantly is that we will send
the homeowner a bill instead of it coming through their rates.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Have we got any idea how that will change? I mean, say,
for instance, my rates are ten dollars a year. Heaven
help now, will my rates bill go down and your
bill will come on top of will my rates bills
stay the same and I'll just get an extra bill.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, it's a good question that, of course all of
us will love a ten dollar X bill. We So basically,
if you paid ten dollars, then on the first of July,
when tiaq Why takes over responsibility you, we would send
you a bill for maybe three dollars fifty or four dollars,
(01:50):
and the council would send you a bill for six
dollars six dollars fifty something like that. So that's on
day one. But the thing for everybody to know is
that you know, I think everybody knows Wellington and our
plates need a lot of investment. Is those costs will
be going up over the coming years.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So it's going to be a major part of our
rates bill, even though it's a separate bill. Will they
come out on the same form or will it be
a completely different.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Bill, So we're still working through that. Probably the short
answer is that for the coming year, the one starting
on the first of July twenty twenty six, it'll probably
be either a page or a line in your rates bill,
So it'll come out from the same council you used
to getting a bill from today, it'll either have an
(02:39):
extra line on it, or it'll have another page with
the jaqua. It'll be really clear that this is for water,
not for the rest of the things the councils do.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Was there a big difference between three waters and local
waters done well? Is there anything that you can actually
tell our listeners it's majorly different that could or could
possibly save us, or could be more expensive.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I don't think there's any fundamental different So it's still
the idea that if you pull things together then you
can get some economies of scale. It certainly gets cheaper
when you can negotiate bigger contracts and you can do
things if you're buying little bits of pipe. I'm sure
that everybody understands that it's much more efficient to buy
(03:24):
a whole lot of pipe at once and negotiate a
better deal as far as the differences are so, of course,
the previous government thing was to you know, fest of
all coins the ten inch piece, and so depending on
what the differences could be, some of those economies of
scale might be different. But we're really confident with Kiaki
(03:45):
why that we've got enough scale. You know, we've got
almost half a million people living here, one hundred and
fifty five thousand households. We've got enough to get to
deliver some good value for money.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah, but you're almost a contradicting contradiction within yourself because
you're saying economy of scale cheapens it and that's what
three words was not quite doing that.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, it's a bit of both, isn't it. Like So
halfway we've gone to a model for Wellington, or the
councils have where obviously we receive it. The councils have
gone to a model which is bringing together the four
big councils, the metropolitan councils plus the regional council and
the other thing. That makes a lot of sense for
(04:29):
Tiaki Wires. Of course, we do really run a network together.
All our drinking water comes from the same place we
you know, we share two big wastewater treatment plants, so
it does make a lot of sense with what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Does that anything at all change with the government's plan
to scrap regional councils?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Not really for us, of course, you know. So you
know that we still do the same job, the same
assets transfer over to us on the sadieth of June
for the first of July. The Regional Council in its
current form will still be a really important partner while
that goes on. And obviously when the government makes the
(05:11):
changes the governments do will react to that. But look,
on day one it's very much business as usual.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, can you tell us about the new CEO, Michael Brewster,
that could give us confidence that we are heading in
the right direction. And all the nightmare is that Wellington,
know the regions had with water leaks, is not going
to be there come at this time next year.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Well, firstly, look, we're really delighted with Michael's appointment. We
did a significant search through New Zealand and Australia. We
were delighted when he put his hand up. Look and
we had some other really strong candidates, but he was
you know, he was certainly in front for us. He's
a water water industry professional. He has been you know,
(05:59):
he was chief executive of tas Water and Tasmania. He
understands how to deliver water. He also understands that you
can't you know, you can't build Rome in a day.
It's going to take a while. And so this is
this kind of bread and butter and we're really pleased
to have them on. Look, well they're welling to water
team have worked really hard. Yep, they've had a bunch
(06:20):
of problems. They've had some things that they've had to
work through, but look they'll be coming in and forming
you know, they're they're they're a key part of Tiaqui
for the future. So I hope that with you know,
with us as a board being you know, single on
our focus. We don't have to do all sorts of things.
We're just here to look after water, wastewater and storm
water and we've got a confidence CEO. I hope Valentonians
(06:42):
will start to see some improvements.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Thank you very much. What a great way to end.
Thank you very much, Will will Pete, chairman of tr
t r Q.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Y For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen
live to news talks There'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks. B.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Will Pete is the chairman of tr q Y and
he joins us now, good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Will, Good morning, Nick.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Tell me the difference between TIQY and Wellington Water.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
That's a good question. So some people may know that
Wellington Water manages the water functions on behalf of the
councils and Wellington. So that's the four councils, Wellington Polydor
Huts of the upper huts and also the Regional Council.
So they do all the work, so they organize the
(00:49):
maintenance crews and things like that, but they don't own
the essets. The councils still owns the esset and the
council still makes all of the spending decisions. The difference
with Tiaki why is that the councils transfer their assets
to us. And the importantly is that we will send
the homeowner a bill instead of it coming through their rates.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Have we got any idea how that will change? I mean, say,
for instance, my rates are ten dollars a year. Heaven
help now, will my rates bill go down and your
bill will come on top of will my rates bills
stay the same and I'll just get an extra bill.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, it's a good question that, of course all of
us will love a ten dollar X bill. We So basically,
if you paid ten dollars, then on the first of July,
when tiaq Why takes over responsibility you, we would send
you a bill for maybe three dollars fifty or four dollars,
(01:50):
and the council would send you a bill for six
dollars six dollars fifty something like that. So that's on
day one. But the thing for everybody to know is
that you know, I think everybody knows Wellington and our
plates need a lot of investment. Is those costs will
be going up over the coming years.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So it's going to be a major part of our
rates bill, even though it's a separate bill. Will they
come out on the same form or will it be
a completely different.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Bill, So we're still working through that. Probably the short
answer is that for the coming year, the one starting
on the first of July twenty twenty six, it'll probably
be either a page or a line in your rates bill,
So it'll come out from the same council you used
to getting a bill from today, it'll either have an
(02:39):
extra line on it, or it'll have another page with
the jaqua. It'll be really clear that this is for water,
not for the rest of the things the councils do.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Was there a big difference between three waters and local
waters done well? Is there anything that you can actually
tell our listeners it's majorly different that could or could
possibly save us, or could be more expensive.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I don't think there's any fundamental different So it's still
the idea that if you pull things together then you
can get some economies of scale. It certainly gets cheaper
when you can negotiate bigger contracts and you can do
things if you're buying little bits of pipe. I'm sure
that everybody understands that it's much more efficient to buy
(03:24):
a whole lot of pipe at once and negotiate a
better deal as far as the differences are so, of course,
the previous government thing was to you know, fest of
all coins the ten inch piece, and so depending on
what the differences could be, some of those economies of
scale might be different. But we're really confident with Kiaki
(03:45):
why that we've got enough scale. You know, we've got
almost half a million people living here, one hundred and
fifty five thousand households. We've got enough to get to
deliver some good value for money.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah, but you're almost a contradicting contradiction within yourself because
you're saying economy of scale cheapens it and that's what
three words was not quite doing that.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, it's a bit of both, isn't it. Like So
halfway we've gone to a model for Wellington, or the
councils have where obviously we receive it. The councils have
gone to a model which is bringing together the four
big councils, the metropolitan councils plus the regional council and
the other thing. That makes a lot of sense for
(04:29):
Tiaki Wires. Of course, we do really run a network together.
All our drinking water comes from the same place we
you know, we share two big wastewater treatment plants, so
it does make a lot of sense with what we're doing.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Does that anything at all change with the government's plan
to scrap regional councils?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Not really for us, of course, you know. So you
know that we still do the same job, the same
assets transfer over to us on the sadieth of June
for the first of July. The Regional Council in its
current form will still be a really important partner while
that goes on. And obviously when the government makes the
(05:11):
changes the governments do will react to that. But look,
on day one it's very much business as usual.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Well, can you tell us about the new CEO, Michael Brewster,
that could give us confidence that we are heading in
the right direction. And all the nightmare is that Wellington,
know the regions had with water leaks, is not going
to be there come at this time next year.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Well, firstly, look, we're really delighted with Michael's appointment. We
did a significant search through New Zealand and Australia. We
were delighted when he put his hand up. Look and
we had some other really strong candidates, but he was
you know, he was certainly in front for us. He's
a water water industry professional. He has been you know,
(05:59):
he was chief executive of tas Water and Tasmania. He
understands how to deliver water. He also understands that you
can't you know, you can't build Rome in a day.
It's going to take a while. And so this is
this kind of bread and butter and we're really pleased
to have them on. Look, well they're welling to water
team have worked really hard. Yep, they've had a bunch
(06:20):
of problems. They've had some things that they've had to
work through, but look they'll be coming in and forming
you know, they're they're they're a key part of Tiaqui
for the future. So I hope that with you know,
with us as a board being you know, single on
our focus. We don't have to do all sorts of things.
We're just here to look after water, wastewater and storm
water and we've got a confidence CEO. I hope Valentonians
(06:42):
will start to see some improvements.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Thank you very much. What a great way to end.
Thank you very much, Will will Pete, chairman of tr
t r Q.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Y For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, listen
live to news talks There'd be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Male Room with Dr. Jesse Mills
As Director of The Men’s Clinic at UCLA, Dr. Jesse Mills has spent his career helping men understand their bodies, their hormones, and their health. Now he’s bringing that expertise to The Male Room — a podcast where data-driven medicine meets common sense. Each episode separates fact from hype, science from snake oil, and gives men the tools to live longer, stronger, and happier lives. With candor, humor, and real-world experience from the exam room and the operating room, Dr. Mills breaks down the latest health headlines, dissects trends, and explains what actually works — and what doesn’t. Smart, straightforward, and entertaining, The Male Room is the show that helps men take charge of their health without the jargon.