Mike Elliott: Waterworks Commerical Rating Bill

Extract from Hansard

Legislative Council
1 November 2001

Mike Elliott
Leader Australian Democrats
Member of the Legislative Council

Parliament Index
2001 Autumn Sitting Index
Browse by Subject
Search all Democrats material
About the SA Parliament
Hansard on line

The Hon. M.J. ELLIOTT: I rise on behalf of the Democrats to support the second reading of this bill. We get many pieces of legislation that use as an excuse the need for review under competition policy. Some of the changes we end up with are pretty ordinary, but this one is not. I think it is a necessary change. Certainly, in relation to domestic water, there is a very good argument for having a certain component of water that is provided as a matter of course, and it is only when people start using excess water (and what the appropriate level should be is another argument) that there is a pro rata charge. As I understand it, this will be pro rata charged from the first litre. That makes sense to me. I think we have to recognise that, worldwide, water is probably now being seen as the resource that will be most limiting in terms of the future. I guess there was a time when people thought that oil or some other mineral would be the limiting resource— perhaps food—but it really looks as though water will be the limiting resource worldwide. If that is true, Australia— and South Australia—probably face some fairly special challenges in that area.

I think we need to recognise that water in South Australia probably is still too cheap. If water is an important and a limited resource, we really should be putting some very clear signals into the marketplace that encourage people to limit their use of water as much as possible. Certainly, pro rata rating is a step in the right direction. However, I think that we also should be flagging an intention to increase the price of water over a period of time—enough time for industries to accommodate, but also giving them very clear notice that things will change. Many industries already are learning that they can use water more efficiently—and, certainly, agriculture and horticulture has proven it, but some secondary industries also have done so.

I would hope that, in the near future, the government will take the next sensible step after pro rata rating and look at the price of the resource per litre and flag over a set time frame what it intends to do about it. In the longer run, that will have, I think, significant benefits for the economy. Certainly, if someone is told that one of their resources will become more expensive, they would say it is a disincentive, but we will not have a healthy economy in the long run if our water resources are not managed properly. The Democrats support the second reading.