Citizens’ assembly on the next source of water for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. A case study of deliberative democracy in Aotearoa

Abstract

This project was designed and executed in a collaboration between Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures and Watercare. Assembly members were recruited through a two-stage sortition process in which 8000 electronic invitations were sent through the Watercare database and 4000 postal invitations sent using the NZ Post database. Out of the 320 responses, 40 Aucklanders were selected as a sample that reflected the city’s adult population in the 2018 Census, with regard to age, gender, education, ethnicity and home ownership. Over four days between 6 August and 24 September 2022, and three short online meetings, these residents came together, learnt from experts across various disciplines and institutions, deliberated and made recommendations. Tikanga and mātauranga were part of learning and deliberations. A key moment was a conversation on Day 3 between the assembly, Watercare’s Tumuaki Rautaki ā-Iwi me ngā Hononga – Chief, Māori Strategy and Relationships and the chair of Auckland Council’s Mana Whenua Kaitiaki Forum, after which the assembly felt secure in suggesting recycled (direct) water as the next source of water for Auckland. The final set of assembly recommendations about the future source(s) of water for Auckland was delivered to the Watercare leadership on the last day. At the time this report was completed, February 2023, Watercare was examining regulatory requirements and technical feasibility for the use of direct recycled water in Auckland. This experience indicates that deliberative democracy has great potential for advancing public participation and good decision-making in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, it requires significant expertise in its design and facilitation. This report should be regarded as an example rather than a recipe. The lessons learnt could be of use to others trialling deliberative democracy processes in Aotearoa New Zealand. We see the outcome of this assembly as encouraging for the progress of deliberative democracy. We hope to encourage and support more of these processes in the near future.