Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern denies misleading councils by pitching Three Waters as voluntary when the decision to mandate it was predetermined.
Three Waters is the Government's plan to establish four publicly-owned entities to take responsibility for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater from local councils.
Cabinet papers quietly uploaded in November show the Government kept councils guessing for months about whether they would be forced into Three Waters reforms, when "a legislated 'all in' approach to reform" had been decided months ago.
A document from July states that Cabinet "agreed that, to enable all communities to benefit from the proposed reforms, a new reform strategy will be pursued, which involves: a legislated 'all in' approach to reform".
It wasn't until October when Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced that the Government would force Three Waters reforms on local councils, despite initially pitching it as voluntary.
Before then, Whangarei District Council had voted to withdraw from the plan, while big players like Christchurch and Auckland had expressed concerns about losing control of their water assets and how the four entities would be managed.
Mayors reacted to the mandate with disdain.
The latest Newshub-Reid Research poll found that about 48 percent - almost half the country - didn't support the reforms. Just 27 percent supported it, while 25 percent were undecided.
National MP Simon Watts says councils engaged with the Government onThree Waters in good faith and with the expectation their views would be genuinely considered.
"National has consistently warned for several months that the Government would pursue the path they have, and that their consultation with councils was a farce."
Ardern stands by the Government's decisions.
"We've continued to work alongside local government to try and build consensus over a number of months. Local government asked for us to work with them through the agreement that we had over a period of time," she told reporters.
"Over the course of that period of time, of course, we worked up a package of supports to ensure that no council was left worse off by any decision-making.
"Ultimately though, when it became very clear to us that the only way that we would be able to achieve the positive outcome of lower rates, better infrastructure and the ongoing investment required, we would need everyone in rather than some out."
Ardern denied misleading councils.
"I disagree with that. There were some councils who were of the view that it would only be able to be achieved by everyone being all in and were waiting for the Government to ultimately make that decision. We wanted to try and build as much consensus around it as we could."
The Government could have told councils when the decision to mandate Three Waters was made, but Ardern has no regrets.
"I stand by the decisions that we've made," she said.
"Look, some councils don't agree with where we've landed. But it all comes back to one essential issue in my mind: doing nothing is not an option and if we're going to do something successfully, it is going to require us to be all in it together."
The Three Waters reforms stem from Havelock North's outbreak of gastroenteritis in 2016 when four people died and 5000 became ill, as well as drought in Auckland and old pipes bursting in Wellington.
A report by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland estimated that New Zealand needs to invest $120 billion-$185 billion in water infrastructure over the next 30 years to meet standards and provide for future population growth.
Department of Internal Affairs modelling shows that even at the more conservative end of estimates, the average household bill for water services could be as high as $1900 to $9000 by 2051.
The reforms are expected to grow GDP by $14 billion to $23 billion over the next 30 years and create an estimated 6000 to 9000 jobs.
The Government tried to make the reforms easier for councils by announcing a $2.5 billion package in July to ensure they were not only "no worse off", but "better off" from the restructure of water assets.
Under Three Waters, councils will remain the owners of their water assets but they will not have control over them anymore. Their influence will be via 'regional representative groups'. These groups - 50 percent council members and 50 percent iwi - will appoint members to the four water entities.
Since the four water entities span multiple regions, the regional representative groups will be made up of councillors and iwi from multiple regions. It's unclear how they will be chosen.
A key part of the reforms is what's called 'balance sheet separation'. While the water entities will be owned by councils, they will be financially independent, so the financial position of councils will have no effect on the financial position of the entities, and vice versa.
