Have you seen what Chris Hipkins is doing to Three Waters?

Not a lot from the looks of things! Apart from increasing the number of entities and renaming it "Affordable Water Reforms".

Incredible.

Our Prime Minister is reiterating his contempt for the vast numbers of New Zealanders who object to Three Waters.

He must think we are all fools if he thinks that a quick rebrand is going to appease us. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.

Crucially, for those of us who champion democracy and value equal rights, co-governance remains totally embedded in the reforms. Nothing has changed, {{recipient.first_name_or_friend}}. 

Different name, same divisive and regressive policies. 

Local Government Minister Kieran McAnulty said in a press release today:

"Every district council in the country will have a say and representation over their local water services entities through regional representative groups, forming a partnership between council representatives and iwi/Māori that will provide strategic oversight and direction to the entities."

And while he goes on to say they will "continue to sit below the governance board" we already know what that means in practice. It means 50% of the decision making voices will be unelected and unaccountable to a democratic process.

This means that we can expect that the hypocritical accusations of racism directed at opponents of the reforms will continue and our work is well and truly cut out for us because this Government is doubling down.

We aren't afraid to stand up for what is right though. We all have that hill we are willing to die on and for me it is defending a democratic New Zealand that values the rights of each person equally.

The Fight Against Racism fund is still open for donations and every dollar allows us to get our messages in front of more Kiwis. 

There's plenty of time until October and I hope we can count on your continued support in the fight.