Andrew Dickens Afternoons

I was surprised that the news that Auckland had inked a deal with the Government over water wasn't the lead story on last night's TV news. I would have thought that John Campbell would have had a deep dive on its repercussions for Auckland and the country. Basically, water and housing are the biggest issues for this country because every single person, business and animal needs water - and we all need a roof over our head. But maybe the kids we call journalists these days have never got water and its reforms. There is a lot about the deal that has not been said. Compared to 3 Waters, it's essentially 2 waters. Watercare deals with drinking water and human waste. Waste is sewage. That's a billion-dollar-a-year operation. But they don't deal with stormwater and drains. That's called sewerage and that's dealt with in Auckland by an entity called Healthy Waters. Now that's a $200 million dollar a year operation. It's not a council controlled operation. It will still be funded by council borrowings. So when people