We want to understand how the water supply became contaminated because E.coli and other pathogens have been found in other water supplies, not just Havelock North's, and there have been other smaller outbreaks of sickness in the past.
We want to know that the people of Havelock did not suffer for nothing and that the risks in drinking water will be addressed. We want to understand causes of water pollution and connections between ruminant waste and how it could pollute the water we trust will be safe when we turn the tap on.
When I marched with the Walk for Water families from Havelock North to Hastings everyone was talking about the water crisis we face in New Zealand, not just the one they faced in their own homes.
Everyone was worried about the possible connections between the issues, be they the Ruataniwha dam proposal or the current degraded state of the Tukituki River and the mysterious pollution of the water bores they rely on for clean drinking water.
People were passionate about their water being clean and safe, and protested at how companies can bottle the region's purest water for free and sell it overseas. They were upset that irrigators can also use a precious resource like water without having to pay for the privilege.
They were aware that climate change will bring a higher incidence of drought, and realise that retaining and using water sustainably was more important than agricultural intensification, which has been identified as a massive threat to clean water in this country, and represents nearly half of our greenhouse gases.
The Inquiry needs to look at this bigger picture of water in our country, and we are disappointed that there is no fresh water ecologist on the panel to advise and investigate the causes of contamination.
Of course we need a health expert and a local government perspective but the primary issue is dirty water, which the whole country has an interest in.
We must learn from this debacle and identify how fresh water sources can be protected from contamination rather than impose chlorination and other treatments because we refuse to sustain water quality. We have to try to find out why the water was contaminated rather than just focus on the weaknesses in crisis management that have been identified. The communities have a right to a broad Inquiry that allows their questions to be answered.
In the midst of the crisis, when residents in Havelock North were suffering from an illness that was piped into their homes, Pipi Café owner Chris Morris put it best. Dealing with a severe drop in business due to the outbreak, he was asked if the Government should compensate him and businesses like his for the loss of earnings. He said he would swap all the compensation in the world if the Government would just clean up our waterways.
Here is the Government's opportunity to do that, but it is wasting it. There is a reason why we have dirty water and damaged aquifers and it's human behaviour that has created the problem.
The Inquiry needs to deliver not just for Havelock North and the people who have suffered there, but for all New Zealanders now and into the future.
Catherine Delahunty is a Green Party MP and the party's spokeswoman for water quality and rights.
