Stuart Electorate

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (15:34): I rise today to again share my concerns with this house about the constantly rising cost of living the people of the electorate of Stuart are facing. Over 12 years of state Labor government, inflation (the Consumer Price Index) has risen 40 per cent and yet, very unfortunately, property charges have gone up 87 per cent, state taxes have gone up 92 per cent, gas bills have gone up 136 per cent, electricity bills have gone up 160 per cent, and water bills have gone up 227 per cent in total.

I am sure that these rises affect all electorates in the state not just the one I represent, but of course Stuart is my primary concern. I am very sad to learn that, on top of the 160 per cent increase in electricity prices I have just mentioned over the last 12 years, effective yesterday there has been another 4.4 per cent increase in the cost of electricity for South Australians—that in the face of a prediction only a few months ago by the Minister for Resources and Energy that electricity prices would actually decrease nearly 1 per cent every year for the next three years; instead, they are actually going up 4.4 per cent in just one year.

I am also very concerned specifically about water prices—something that of course no household and no business can avoid—going up 227 per cent in 12 years, compared to inflation of 40 per cent. At the same time, the government is claiming hundreds of millions of dollars (I think it is nearly $300 million each year) from SA Water. Essentially, a government monopoly making money from a resource that is absolutely mandatory, necessary, and its use cannot be avoided, and then taking those proceeds back into Treasury seems completely inappropriate to me.

I certainly understand the need for SA Water to invest in its network, and I understand the value in having a government-owned water provider, but when the operation of SA Water is returning hundreds of millions of dollars to the government and at the same time increasing water costs to people across our state by nearly 200,000 above inflation that clearly is not acceptable.

I think particularly about my constituents who live out on the Barrier Highway, from Terowie out to Cockburn; some of those people are paying nearly $14 a kilolitre for water you cannot actually drink. They are paying a price three or four times what Adelaide metropolitan people pay for their water, but the Adelaide metropolitan people get potable water; those people get unpotable water. It hurts families, it hurts homes and it hurts businesses out that way.

I think particularly about the Yunta Hotel (not that they are in isolation) trying to encourage people to come and stay in their hotel, an important local business, and their guests refuse to shower there because of the quality of the water. It is a disgraceful situation, and yet they are paying nearly $14 a kilolitre for that water. That concerns me enormously.

In addition to thinking about comments from ESCOSA and comments from SACOSS in regard to people accessing services and support, an indication of the impact of the cost of living on the public of South Australia which is probably not often commented on but which is quite interesting is this. In the financial year before last (and because the last one has just finished, I do not have the stats) approximately 156,000 police expiation notices were sent out, but the number of expiation notices that did not receive payment within 14 days of a reminder notice being sent out was 66,000; that is, 42 per cent of expiation notices sent out by police were not paid on time. I can tell you that 7,700 of them went to court, so that leaves approximately 58,000 that did not.

I think that is a very interesting indicator of people's cost of living because, quite understandably, expiation notices would come after water, electricity, gas, food and clothes for the kids.

Time expired.