Podcast appearances and mentions of wellington water

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 ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New numbers show that daily water loss in Wellington City has dropped by around 11 million litres per day - that's four Olympic swimming pools saved every single day. Wellington Water chairperson Nick Leggett spoke to Corin Dann.

Wellington's metropolitan councils have agreed to replace beleaguered Wellington Water with a new stand-alone entity. Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry, who chairs the Wellington Water Committee, says unlike Wellington Water, the new entity will own the infrastructure itself. He spoke to Corin Dann.

Christopher Luxon says he's expecting a “pretty seamless transition” as Winston Peters hands over the deputy prime minister role to David Seymour this week. The Prime Minister spoke live to Newstalk ZB Wellington Mornings host Nick Mills today as he reaches the halfway point of his three-year term as leader. Luxon was sworn in as Prime Minister in November 2023, after National secured 38% of the vote at the general election. He negotiated a three-way coalition agreement with New Zealand First and ACT. As part of that agreement, the leaders of the two parties, Winston Peters and David Seymour, are sharing the deputy prime minister role for half of the parliamentary term each. This week marks the midpoint for the three-year parliamentary term. Peters has been serving as deputy prime minister with Seymour set to take over this Saturday. When asked how he felt he was tracking in the job, Luxon said he was “absolutely loving it” but acknowledged it was a tough time for the country. “It's essentially like the recession of the early 90's. We inherited a hell of a mess and we're happy to fix it up and sort it out.” Luxon said he and his wife continue having date nights on Fridays despite the demands of the job, and had just been to the movies together to see Mission Impossible. “I really want Amanda and the kids to be able to carry on their life without being defined too much by what I do.” He said there was “no question at all whatsoever” that he would do it all again if he had the chance to start over. “I kind of knew what I was getting into . . . the hard stuff comes to your desk. If it's easy, it gets solved somewhere else in the system.” When asked whether he was spending too much time appeasing coalition parties, Luxon said they were doing something that had never been done before. Mills asked whether Luxon's party would be more effective if they could work without the coalition parties, and Luxon said that was not how New Zealand worked with the electoral system. He said it was “okay” and “normal” to not agree on everything with partners, but in the majority of cases they were aligned in what they wanted to do. Asked about the handover from Peters to Seymour as deputy prime minister, Luxon said he expects it to be a “pretty seamless transition”. He said Peters and Seymour were different people with different personalities, and Luxon's job was to make that work. Christopher Luxon, David Seymour and Winston Peters after signing their coalition agreement in November 2023. Photo / Mark Mitchell Mills asked Luxon what he thought was going wrong with Wellington, referencing public sector job cuts and the appointment of a Crown Observer at Wellington City Council. Luxon referred to other major cities that were making bids for big events, such as Sail GP in Auckland and the supercars in Christchurch. He criticised a bike lane being built on Molesworth St. “You've got way too much ideology and party politics in your local government. “Wellington should be more than just a public service town. We've just gone and invested $500 million in film rebates in this country.” He said there was ambition and aspiration in Wellington, but there needed to be a council that did the basics well, such as managing water. He said Wellington Water was a “total basket case”. Luxon wouldn't be drawn on who he thought should be the capital's next Mayor, instead saying “whoever is the next mayor needs to have a vision where it's going to, they need to get the finances under control. “It's a big city, it's an important city to New Zealand. I live here, I love this place, it's got so much potential.” Luxon then turned the questions on Nick Mills asking if he was going to be throwing his hat in the ring. He jokingly exclaimed they had managed to confirm Mills was not running for mayor. The six men vying to be Wellington's next mayor are Andrew Little, Ray Chung, Graham Bloxham, Karl Tiefenbacher, Rob Goulden and Kelvin Hastie. NZH composite image The pair also discussed the recent death of Palmerston North teenager Ryan Satterthwaite, who died after taking part in a private “run it straight” game on Sunday. The 19-year-old was taken to Palmerston North Hospital with severe head injuries. His life support was turned off on Monday. Satterthwaite's grieving family say his death was an “accident waiting to happen” and have urged others to stop taking part in the social media-driven trend. Speaking to the Herald, his uncle Peter Satterthwaite said Ryan was a “top kid” who loved his mates, enjoyed playing rugby, and “would do anything for anybody.” He said “run it straight” was simply a “stupid idea”. “Just don't do it. A little bit of fun has lifelong consequences.” Palmerston North teen, Ryan Satterthwaite died after suffering serious injuries in a "run it straight" game. Satterthwaite said it was “disgraceful” the events are being promoted as a sport, and is calling on the All Blacks, Warriors, and other high-profile sportspeople to publicly speak out against it. “People don't listen to us, we're just Joe Bloggs, but they [the public] idolise our sportspeople.” Luxon said the situation was “incredibly tragic for the young person involved, for their family, for their friends. It's just an absolute tragedy”. He said it was a good reminder for people to take “personal responsibility”. Luxon said adults and influencers driving the craze should be “thinking and reflecting very strongly right now”. He said it wasn't something you can ban at a government level. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom discusses the latest events in Te Whanganui-a-Tara including local government update and the missing Wellington Water report.

Wellington Water's boss is defending spending ratepayer money on skincare for staff and mindfulness workshops. The under-fire agency has confirmed it spent more than $10,000 on wellbeing workshops in the recent financial year - including nutritionists and skin checks. Chief Executive Pat Dougherty says it's important to be a caring employer. "Good staff are hard to find - you'll want to attract them and keep them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tonight on The Huddle, Jack Tame from ZB's Saturday Mornings and Q&A and Thomas Scrimgeour from the Maxim Institute joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more! Wellington Water has copped backlash over spending significant amounts on wellness-based perks for their employees. What do we make of this? Former Labour leader Andrew Little has announced his intention to run for mayor of Wellington. Is this a good move? Will he get votes? The Maori Party wants Maori to get NZ Super 7-10 years before everyone else and Labour is refusing to say whether it would agree. The Greens are on board with giving some parts of society Super earlier. Is this the best look? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom updates Kathryn on the latest issues in Wellington including the controversy surrounding Wellington Water, the Crown observer's latest report, the council's proposed plan to charge commercial rates to short term rentals like Airbnb, and the upcoming local body elections.

I sort of hinted at this the other day when the monitor for the Wellington City Council put out his second report. My question was, given there was leaking and dysfunction and the punter was at their wits end, what now for Wellington? Do we just get more reports? Well, lo and behold, another Wellington operation has their own monitor in the form of the Commerce Commission who have been brought in to oversee the mess at Wellington Water. The Minister has not seen any improvement, there's been no real change and unless stuff happens, there are rate rises galore for no real gain. So once again we can ask, what do the Commerce Commission do? Do they write reports too? If those reports tell us the place is still a shambles, how many reports does it take for someone, somewhere, to actually fire up a bit of action? I can also add, and this is an overarching observation, just how dysfunctional does Wellington need to get before it literally implodes on itself? The electorate changes last week were all in Wellington. Why? Because people have left and, to be frank, who can blame them? Then we come to Tamatha Paul, who made what most observers seemed to suggest was one of the most extraordinary comments about police anyone had ever heard. Her good friends in Labour called them stupid. The Prime Minister called her insane. Yet she holds an electorate. The good people of Wellington central, and by no small margin I might add, looked at her credentials and decided they liked her enough to vote for her. So Wellington, what's the story? What level of madness and dysfunction are you willing to tolerate before change comes? Is change ever coming? Do you actually want change? Do you mind paying a lot more than you need to for stuff that doesn't work? Is a crummy council, a lot of broken pipes and a mad MP OK, as long as your cycleways are fun to ride on? Oh, did I mention the trains? You can't beat Wellington on a good day. When, Wellington, was your last good day and why are you putting up with it? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday, 28 March 2025, the Government's called in the Commerce Commission to deal with concerns with Wellington Water's management. How does the government feel about stomping up money for Auckland's Eden Park? Royal correspondent Juliet Rieden speaks to Ryan Bridge about King Charles' hospital admission after cancer treatment side effects. Plus, Ryan reveals his gardening faux pas and why someone tried to steal his lawnmower. Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government is calling in the Commerce Commission to help fix Wellington's water issues. This means Wellington Water will have to report details of its financial management to the Commerce Commission, and the commission will make sure that Wellington ratepayers aren't getting ripped off. How exactly are they going to do it? Local Government Minister Simon Watts talks to Ryan Bridge about the details. LISTEN ABOVE. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington Water Chair Nick Leggett says he's not going anywhere. The mayors of Wellington and Upper Hutt - Tory Whanau and Wayne Guppy - both say they have no confidence in him. A recent critical report found the organisation was potentially wasting millions of dollars on infrastructure contracts. Leggett says he'd like Wellington to transition to a different water entity. "That owns its own assets, can raise money off those assets and get good value for the money it spends and get them replaced as soon as possible." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington Water's Board Chair is has held on to his job for now after Monday's extraordinary meeting with the water company's leadership group. Reporter Nick James spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Wellington Water's boss says local councils have every right to be angry at them. Tory Whanau yesterday described her council's relationship with the organisation as “tense” at a special meeting, following revelations last week it wasn't getting value for ratepayers' money. Wellington Water CEO Pat Dougherty told Mike Hosking he and his staff are doing everything they can to find the issues and fix them. He says there's been a culture of putting too much trust in their contractors, and he wants a more tense and accountable relationship. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leaders in the Wellington region will discuss the future of the Wellington Water Board Chair on Monday at an extraordinary meeting. Councillor Nikau Wi Neera spoke to Corin Dann.

Wellington's mayor, and most of the city councillors, called for the Wellington Water board chair to resign last week in the wake of two scathing reports. Councillors will discuss the future of Nick Leggett at an extraordinary meeting on Monday. Councillor Diane Calvert spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Porirua mayor Anita Baker says the proposed `kangaroo court' targeted at the Wellington Water chair is a disgrace. 

Wellington's Mayor Tory Whanau and the majority of the city's councillors have called for Wellington Water chair Nick Leggett to resign over what they call severe failings and 'millions of dollars wasted'.

There are calls for Wellington Water's boss to resign as the embattled organisation faces the prospect of legal action. The fallout from two scathing reports into the water provider is coming thick and fast after they found the region's ratepayers are being charged three times as much for water repairs as other areas of the country. Wellington issues reporter Nick James reports.

On today's episode, Donald Trump is set to address a joint session of congress where he'll outline his agenda on immigration, the economy, and his approach to Ukraine, Ukraine President Vlodymyr Zelensky has released a statement in response to Donald Trump's withdrawal of US military aid, and the fallout from damning Wellington Water reports is ramping up.

Wellington Water released a scathing report on Monday pointing, among other things, to poor value for money from contractors. Civil Contractors New Zealand chief executive Alan Pollard spoke to Corin Dann.

The fallout from damning Wellington Water reports is ramping up. Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy, Porirua deputy mayor Kylie Wihapi, and Wellington City councillor Ben McNulty spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The Corrections Minister says a report on prison culture doesn't say anything the Government doesn't already know. The report from Independent Research Solutions says the influence of gangs in prison has grown significantly in the past decades, with non-members lower in the social hierarchy. It finds 35% of inmates are in voluntary segregation. Mark Mitchell told Mike Hosking prisons are a microcosm of society, and gangs are known for their intimidation tactics in the community. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is growing anger in Wellington over revelations the capital's ratepayers have been paying nearly three times more for water repairs than in other parts of the country. 

Treasury's chief economist gives a house price prediction, while a relatively unknown Canadian billionaire is taking a larger stake in NZ Herald's listed owner NZME. Dan also discusses Trump's crypto plays and how Wellingtonians ended up paying three times what other regions are paying for water repairs.

Wellington Water board Chair admits the relationship between the organisation and its contractors got too friendly. The comments follow a scathing report, showing the the cost of unplanned water pipe repairs in the Wellington region is three times higher than in other regions. A probe has uncovered poor value for money from contractors, loose financial controls and even one case of alleged theft. Bill Hickman reports.

On today's episode, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says New Zealand is standing up for the international rules-based order in supporting Ukraine and that position hasn't changed, the government is promising a $285 million "uplift" that will bring in a hundred new foreign-trained doctors into the primary care workforce, an urgent meeting of the Advisory Oversight Committee has been called for Tuesday morning to discuss Monday's scathing report on Wellington Water, and Neon's low budget film Anora and filmmaker Sean Baker ruled the night at the 97th Academy Awards, winning five trophies.

An urgent meeting is being held in Wellington to look at Monday's highly critical report into Wellington Water. Reporter Nick James spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

An urgent meeting of the Advisory Oversight Committee has been called for Tuesday morning to discuss Monday's scathing report on Wellington Water. Wellington Water board chairperson Nick Leggett spoke to Alexa Cook.

The Upper Hutt Mayor says it was obvious the region's water agency was ripping off ratepayers for a long time. Report findings show a lack of oversight meant Wellington Water was paying nearly three times more to contractors for pipe work, compared with in other areas. Board Chair Nick Leggett says it means millions of ratepayer dollars wasted. Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy says Leggett must resign. He told Mike Hosking his council smelt a rat for years, but their concerns fell on deaf ears. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Chair of Wellington Water says he's considering stepping down, after a scathing report uncovered more organisational failures. It highlights a lack of oversight in contracting work, with pipe maintenance work paid at nearly three times the comparable council rate. Nick Leggett says he'll step down if the region's mayors want him to but he has acted on the issues in question. "What we've tried to do is lift the lid on that - be honest and upfront. There wasn't the right competitive tension to get the best value for ratepayers, the internal systems for the organisation, the financial checks - those kind of processes were appalling." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of the Wellington region's busiest roads, State Highway Two through the Hutt Valley will be severely disrupted when Wellington Water digs up an aging sewerage pipe that runs under it. Nick James reports.

Wellington's Water says the risk of water restrictions this summer has diminished. But it still wants households and businesses to be careful.

Wellington City Council's 'highest-ever' investment in water infrastructure will see less than 1km of pipes replaced this year, Wellington Water claims. After a summer of leaks and taps running dry, the Council promised to increase spending on water infrastructure to address the damage. Wellington City Councillor Ben McNulty says it's up to Wellington Water to determine where that money goes. "The decision to do less than a kilometre sits very much operationally in their hands." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington water insists it's working "at pace" to keep the environmental impact of a broken sewerage pipe in Lower Hutt to a minimum. Deputy mayor of Lower Hutt Tui Lewis spoke to Guyon Espiner.

Upper Hutt's Mayor has lashed out at Wellington Water after an independent report revealed it took four months to tell the region's three councils about a 51 million dollar budgetting error. The report by consultants Roy Barker and Kevin Jenkins identified multiple failures including a lack of strategic leadership at a senior level, Nick James reports.

Wellington Water's Chair says the board's committed to improving the organisation in the wake of a scathing review.   The report looked into a $51 million blunder which saw the agency tell councils they needed less funding than they actually did.   It found a lack of leadership in the agency and issues with its organisational culture.   Nick Leggett told Heather du Plessis Allan there's lessons to be learned.  “We've got to improve the culture, we've got to elevate problems as they come up and be upfront and frank about them, and we've got to improve our systems – particularly in the finance part of the business.”  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wellington Water apologised to councils after discovering a multi-million dollar hole in its budget. The error was only spotted after most councils had already signed off on their long-term plans following a lengthy and painful debate.

Wellington Water says the region saved more than 400 million litres of water this summer thanks to the effort of locals. Wellington Water director of regulatory services Charles Barker spoke to Charlotte Cook.

The money the capital's councils are setting aside for new water pipes is not even half what Wellington Water wants for the next decade. The Hutt Valley, Porirua, Wellington and the regional councils have been drawing up their ten-year spending plans for the failing infrastructure. Representatives from all the councils will be meeting with the water utility company tomorrow. Reporter Nick James has been sifting through the facts and figures. 

The water watchdog says it doesn't have confidence in Wellington Water to ensure sufficient supply for the region next summer.  Wellington, the Hutt Valley and Porirua have had water restrictions in place for the past few months, as well as a continuous threat of more severe rules. In a letter from Taumata Arowai's chief executive, local councils and Wellington Water have been asked to provide a plan outlining how they can avoid a repeat of this situation next year. That's due on Friday. Taumata Arowai's regulatory head, Steve Taylor, spoke to Morning Report.

A rāhui is in place in Porirua for the Kenepuru Stream and part of the harbour, after a wastewater pipe burst on Sunday.  Wellington Water says it is using pumps to stop overflows into the area, and has conducted a geotechnical assessment.  It expects those pumps to remain in place for the next fortnight.  Wellington Water was unavailable for an interview.  Porirua's mayor Anita Baker spoke to Corin Dann.  

The budget for a major upgrade to Wellington Water's treatment plant has blown out by more than $40 million. The Te Mārua Water Treatment Plant supplies 45 percent of the Wellington region's water and the upgrade will increase the amount of water the facility can treat. As Nick James reports, councils and ratepayers may have to dig a little deeper to pay for it

Wellington Water will not be able to properly fluoridate the supply to much of Wellington and Lower Hutt for another three months. On Monday it admitted that fluoride levels have not been up to Ministry of Health standards over the past four months. Additionally, water regulator Taumata Arowai, has told the company the water supply to 800 Lower Hutt homes properties is not adequately chlorinated. We're joined by Wellington Water's chief executive Tonia Haskell.

A leak in the Wellington suburb of Miramar has been spurting good drinking water into a drain at the rate of a litre per second for almost a month. Wellingtonians are getting increasingly frustrated watching thousands of litres of water be wasted under threats of further water restrictions this summer. The Miramar leak has been logged by Wellington Water as a medium priority job and locals are devestated nothing has been done about it. Jemima Huston reports [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6346256492112

There's a flood of experts with ideas on how to plug Wellington Water woes; yet the city is still hemorraghing 40% of drinkable water. Last week Master Plumbers told Checkpoint its members are qualified and available to help patch leaks in the capital, with many of the problems at toby's or isolation valves on private property. A report shows response and repair times have blown out in the capital; a patch-up that should take less than five days to do, is taking 40 days on average and staff shortages at the region's water services are stalling repairs. Now the professional assocation for Civil Contractors says there's enough of its people to do the work, but there's not enough funding being allocated. Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard speaks to Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6346267400112

Call in the Commissioners, this is the plea from the boss of Master Plumbers, who reckons Wellington bureaurats are flushing money and plumbers should be brought in to patch the tsunami of leaks in Wellington's water pipes. A report shows response and repair times have blown out; a patch-up that should take less than five days to do, is taking 40 days on average. Staff shortages at the region's water services are also stalling repairs. Master Plumbers Chief Executive Greg Wallace speaks to Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6346036434112

Maintenance costs for Wellington's water pipes have jumped a massive 71% in the past three years according to a just released report . The independent review ordered by the council also details slow response times to fix leaks and issues. Right now 40% of the capital's drinking water is being lost to leaks. Wellington Water wants 2.5 billion dollars over ten years to fix the pipes and the Council's faced with the challenge of funding aging inrastructure. Mayor Tory Whanau speaks to Lisa Owen. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6345977982112

A damning report into how water's dealt with in the capital has heaped blame on the council and water operator for bad communication and slow response to reports of leaks. It also says Wellington Water's lax reporting means it can't clearly show how it is spending ratepayers' money to fix the pipes. Meanwhile residents dealing with the leaks in the city say they've been there so long, they now have resident populations of ducks. Some are even re-routing their leaks to water their gardens. Jemima Huston reports.

The government's bumped the Wellington water crisis on to an agency to work out who's going to pay for the huge upgrades needed in the capital. Wellington mayor Tory Whanau says the problem will take decades to fix. Some of the region's mayors want the financial burden completely removed from their orbit and taken off their balance sheet. Nick James has more. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6345858596112