According to Te Pou (The Post)–

The first instalment of new water bills for Wellington home owners have been sent out this week, with residents complaining of unaffordable sums and a financial burden for living in the capital.

Tiaki Wai, Wellington’s new council-owned organisation responsible for water services, has begun quarterly charges across the region, meaning households will now be billed directly for water, rather than through council rates.

But with the due date for payment just over a month away, some residents are now scrambling to find hundreds of dollars, and in some cases more than $1000, in extra cash amid the cost of living crisis.

One Wellington resident described the bills, which ranged from around $300 to $800 quarterly, as a “financial burden being placed on Wellington home owners” that is “completely out of touch with reality”. Another frustrated resident exclaimed the bills were “pure robbery”.

It shouldn’t be any surprise, given that Dougherty, Maxwell and Power formerly of KCDC were at the top of it before the name change on 1 July, and may still be there — it’s unclear. The official boss of this quango now is Michael Brewster, who is being paid an astonishing annual salary of $645,000, over $110,000 more than Dougherty was getting as boss. And on the subject of the name change, why does every failed government organisation have to be rebranded with a Maori name? We’ve observed before that this practice is insulting to Maori. —Eds