House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Water Pricing WATER PRICING Mr WILLIAMS House of Assembly MacKillop Deputy Leader of the Opposition WATER PRICING Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Water. Will the minister confirm that when the government increases water prices next year (which the minister has stated will be similar to the 40 per cent increase this year) the average household water bill will have more than trebled since 2002? The Hon. P. CAICA House of Assembly Colton Minister for Environment and Conservation Minister for the River Murray Minister for Water WATER PRICING The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (15:01): When you deconstruct the question of the deputy leader over there, he talks specifically about the price of water. Of course when you look at the bills, and the costs of the provision of the services provided by SA Water, there are components of the bill that are not simply water—although water is an important component. What we have said—and we have made no bones about it—is that there will be a series of large increases, and we have flagged that next year will be around a similar mark to what it was for this current financial year. However, we have not determined the figure yet, and I will not pre-empt anything until, along with my colleague the Treasurer and the work that needs to be undertaken, the pricing is eventually set.