A big crowd turned out on Thursday night in Invercargill as the Three Waters roadshow arrived in town.
More than 400 people were at the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club to listen to veteran broadcaster Peter Williams present a different viewpoint.
Mr Williams was speaking at the fifth and most well-attended joint Groundswell and New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Stop 3 Waters Roadshow.
Mr Williams spoke of the disproportionate representation between iwi and councils, with the imbalance removing council governance rights and ownership.
Councils did not need Wellington politicians and bureaucrats to tell them when major infrastructure needed to be built, he said.
In early May, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a shareholding structure for the country’s councils after they had voiced concerns of asset ownership.
Shares would be population based, with one share per 50,000 people.
Mr Williams believed the shares were a ruse.
"When you really own something, you can decide how it operates, make money from it or be in charge of it."
By Toni McDonald
