In this paper, we argue that democracy is increasingly indistinguishable from authoritarianism, in a process that is entangled with neoliberalisms. To build this argument, we examine a case study of central government intervention in regional environmental decision making in Aotearoa New Zealand through the lens of Agamben's “state of exception”. The intervention—unprecedented and unconstitutional—squeezed democratic spaces for decision making about freshwater and sought to smooth the way for capital accumulation. The audacity of government actions indicate, we argue, an abandonment of efforts to disguise neoliberal encroachments on democracy, known as the double truth tactic. Yet we also argue that in identifying this as a state of exception, we can examine it as part of a process and therefore demonstrate the possibilities for counter‐hegemonic actions to emerge. I tēnei pepa ka tohea e mātou arā: kua tauwhiwhi haere te ao manapori me ngā mahi whakatuanui a te kāwanatanga me te tūhonotanga o ēnei mahi ki te ariā tōrangapū—ariā pūtea hoki—e kiia nei ko neoliberalism. Ina e hanga ana mātou i tēnei tohetohe ka mātua tirohia tētahi mātaihanga e hāngai pū ana ki te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa me ā rātou mahi whakapōrearea i te mana o te kaunihera ā‐rohe o Ōtautahi, i Aotearoa. Ka tirohia e tātou tēnei take mā ngā arotahi o Agamben e whakaingoatia nei ko te state of exception. Heoi, ko tā mātou e tohe nei i te tū whakatoatoa te kāwanatanga me te kore whakarongo i ngā take me ngā āwangawanga o te kaunihera o Ōtautahi e pā ana ki te mahi, te tango hoki, i ngā wai māori–ahakoa roto mai, awa mai, kōawa mai–hei kohikohi pūtea. Waihoki, i nana te kāwanatanga ki te whati i ngā tīkanga ā‐manapori i a rātou e mau korowai neoliberalism ana. Kei te mōhio ētahi ko te āhua o tērā momo mahi ko te double truth tactic. Kua kitea e mātou he state of exception tēnei. Ka mutu, tērā ētahi hunga e whai hātepe ana hei whakahē atu ki te kāwanatanga. Ko tā mātou, he pai tērā tauira hei whai tikanga manapori, hei whakahouhou hoki i te manapori.