TasWater takeover about economy and brand, not alpha males

Peter Gutwein explains why his critics are missing the point on water, sewerage reforms

COMMENTS by MLC Ruth Forrest and Brighton Mayor Tony Foster overlook that the principal reason for the State Government’s proposed takeover of TasWater is to ensure water and sewerage infrastructure is fixed faster, while ensuring that prices for consumers are kept down.

I reject that this is an “alpha male-driven exercise’’ or “crass politics’’ as suggested.

We simply want our water and sewerage assets fixed quicker while protecting Tasmanians from spiralling charges which local government said would rise by an additional 30 per cent over the next six years.

This is not about the State Government wanting profits from TasWater. Any future returns the Government would be entitled to would be reinvested to upgrade infrastructure and keep prices down.

Mr Foster is obviously captured by the lure of big profits into the future from TasWater, but what he is not saying is that these profits will come out of the pockets of Tasmanians and that even at the end of their 10-year works plan, TasWater will still have a backlog of work of more than $400 million. Tasmanians deserve better.

Better water and sewerage services are vital for public health, our economy, tourism and Tasmania’s brand.

They are not optional extras and must be delivered at a price Tasmanians can afford.

Ms Forrest and Mr Foster question who knows most about water and sewerage.

I would back the independent Economic Regulator every day of the week and in his report from March 2017, this was his assessment: “Tasmania’s water and sewerage assets are deteriorating faster than they can be replaced’’ and “comparisons over the past five years highlight there has been no tangible progress towards substantially improved compliance levels … and … it is evident compliance levels worsened during the seven years from July 2009.’’

The Government cannot sit back and watch councils take annual dividends out of TasWater while infrastructure is going backwards.

It is not acceptable that under local government ownership, eight years after reforms began, we have 25 towns on boil-water or do-notconsume alerts, sewage spills up to eight times over the national average, and only one of 79 sewage plants compliant with Environment Protection Authority standards.

Tasmania is a world-class destination with inadequate water and sewerage services and the current structure, where TasWater has 29 separate council owners, is not working effectively.

It is disappointing to hear councils and mayors claim we are trying to steal their infrastructure. It is not their infrastructure. It belongs to the people of Tasmania who have paid for it, and moving the responsibility of ownership from one level of government to another won’t change that.

The people of Tasmania will still own the infrastructure under our plan.

We have guaranteed councils their TasWater returns until 2024-25 and after that they will get half of any returns in perpetuity.

By taking over TasWater, we can use its strong balance sheet and the Government’s strong financial position to get the infrastructure fix done quicker.

By doing this, we will create jobs and strengthen our economy while fixing a major challenge that impacts on our economy and brand.

We will bring forward planning to tackle the Tamar River and the unacceptable overflow of raw sewage into this estuary. It will require cooperation by local, state and federal government and the landowners in the catchment, but we are determined to find a solution and have already announced a taskforce to get on with this task.

Our legislation will prohibit future privatisation of TasWater and no one will lose their job as a result of this change of ownership.

While the Government has a plan to fix things and keep prices down, it is disappointing that the reaction from TasWater and its council owners has been to spend ratepayers’ money on a political campaign and legal advice about legislation that has not even been released.

Tasmanians expect their Government to act when required, to be decisive and govern in the best interests of all Tasmanians — that is what we are doing.

I look forward to Tasmania’s MPs considering this legislation in due course through the same prism.

We want our water and sewerage assets fixed quicker while protecting Tasmanians from spiralling charges.

Peter Gutwein is Treasurer and Planning and Local Government Minister.