WE ALL NEED PRICE FREEZE

THE Beattie government’s decision to acquire key parts of the city’s water infrastructure to shore up its water grid to drought-proof southeast Queensland was always going to come at a cost.

And boy, are we paying for it, with the State Government on a winner when it comes to sucking in a guaranteed flood of taxpayer and ratepayer dollars.

As revealed today, bulk water charges have spiked 15.5 per cent since 2016-17, with the city council having to hand over $188 million to the Government this year.

And ratepayers wonder why their water bills have risen up to $200 a quarter.

They should not blame the city council. Like the Dutch tale about a little boy who puts his finger in a leaking dike and saves his country, the council has been valiantly trying to stop the drain on residents’ savings by ensuring there is no increase in city water and sewerage charges. But, as it advised when the city budget was brought down in June, “state charges for water consumption are out of council control”.

Indeed, the city tried hard to deliver a budget sympathetic to the plight of residents during the pandemic. Many are doing it tough.

But the milk of human kindness does not seem to flow through the bulk water pipes under state control. Instead of putting any increases on hold, Seqwater has continued to hike charges and, when challenged by the Bulletin, has done what state-controlled bodies always do – flicked the blame. Oh, it says, the bulk water price is set by the Government based on recommendations from the Queensland Competition Authority – an “independent statutory authority” that comes under the bailiwick of the State Treasurer and was set up by the government back in 1997.

What annoys Gold Coasters is that the heroes of the grid, the Hinze Dam and the desalination plant, were owned by this city until the takeover of assets at the height of the big drought more than a decade ago.

Drinking water capacity across the southeast at the moment is down to 62 per cent, but our Hinze Dam is 92.7 per cent full. The desalination plant at Tugun meanwhile is ready to do its job during drought or when needed to bolster supplies if maintenance on other dams and reservoirs could force restrictions.

We are all for drought-proofing the state, but the Government should not think it can suck people’s wallets dry – especially in an election year.