and mayor of queenstown-lakes glyn lewers argued that the government's changes failed to address their concerns with three waters including property rights, local governance, and regional representation. māori leaders and groups in mid-may 2021, te maire tau, the chair of te kura taka pini, the māori tribe ngāi tahu's freshwater group, disputed claims by the opposition national party leader judith collins that the government was planning to transfer 50% of the publicly owned water assets in the south island to ngāi tahu. he said ngāi tahu did not want to own water infrastructure, and believed that it should remain in public ownership, but that ngāi tahu was seeking a share of governance responsibilities. in may 2021, some māori leaders from ruapehu district, whanganui, south taranaki and rangitikei district, including fiona kahukura chase and former te pāti māori (māori party) member of parliament dame tariana turia, said that the creation of large entities to manage water infrastructure would make it more difficult for local māori to be part of policy making. following the launch of the three waters programme in late october 2021, te maire tau, the co-chair of te kura taka pini, welcomed the three water reforms, claiming they would improve water services and environmental outcomes. in mid april 2023, te pāti māori vice-president john tamihere rejected the idea of co-governance in favour of the idea that māori owned the country's water resources. political parties in mid may 2021, national party leader judith collins claimed that the government was planning to transfer 50% of the publicly-owned water assets in the south island to the māori tribe ngāi tahu. in late october 2021, the opposition national and act parties vowed to repeal the three waters reforms if elected into government. christopher luxon, who had replaced collins as national party leader, accused the government of misleading local councils about three waters being optional. in response to criticism, labour party leader and prime minister jacinda ardern denied that the government had misled local councils by pitching the three waters programme as optional but later determining that it was mandatory, claiming that the government had worked with local councils to build a consensus for several months. in response to the revised reform plans announced by government on 29 april 2022, opposition parties criticised the reforms because of the loss of control by local councils, and the design of the governance structure. they promised to repeal the proposed legislation if elected to government. in late july 2022, luxon stated that the three waters reforms could become an electoral issue at the 2023 new zealand general election, claiming that the government had not listened to local democracy, local government, and local voices when implementing the reforms. on 25 february 2023, luxon announced that a future national government would scrap the three waters reform programme and return water assets to local government control. in addition, luxon confirmed that national would establish a water infrastructure regulator within the commerce commission to set and enforce standards for long-term water infrastructure investment. under national's water infrastructure plan, local councils would be required to "ring-fence" funds for water infrastructure and "regional council controlled organisations" would be established to help local councils borrow funds. following the launch of the government's revamped "affordable water reforms" programme in mid april 2023, luxon claimed that the changes amounted to a name change and vowed to repeal the policy if national is elected into government. on 14 april, national's local government spokesperson simon watts disputed local government minister kieran mcanulty's debt figures around the water reforms programme and stated that the government's rebrand of three waters would not fool anyone. public opinion on 22 october 2021, a curia-taxpayers' union poll found that 54% of voters opposed the scheme while 19% supported the scheme. despite its unpopularity with local councils and the public, the government persisted with the three waters reform programme. on 22 november 2021, a newshub–reid research poll found that 48% of people opposed the reforms while 27% supported, with 25% unsure. of labour voters, 40% were in support with 30% opposed and 31% unsure. protests in mid-september 2021, about 25 protesters opposed to the three waters reforms stormed the offices of the nelson city council. the protest violated covid-19 lockdown restrictions in force throughout new zealand at the time. in early october 2021, about 70 protesters opposed to the three waters reforms picketed the offices of the tauranga city council. the protest violated covid-19 lockdown restrictions in force at the time. on 21 may 2022, protesters opposed to the three waters reforms attempted to march across the auckland harbour bridge. they assaulted police and disrupted traffic. in response, police arrested 11 protesters.