Kerin, Dr Paul

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (16:51): A supplementary, sir: as the Treasurer believes Dr Kerin's resignation was politically motivated, does he also believe that the comments made by Professor Blandy and Ms Rajkowska were also politically motivated?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Treasurer, Minister for Finance, Minister for State Development, Minister for Mineral Resources and Energy, Minister for Small Business) (16:51): The only reason I say Mr Kerin's resignation motives were political is because he says so in his own letter. He says so. The quarrel I have with the two other board members you are talking about is that they are wrong; they are just plain wrong. We are the policymakers and they are the regulators. I think it is important to note that, if you want to take Mr Blandy's article today in The Advertiser, it is probably a very interesting piece of academic work by Mr Blandy, but the reality is that, under the regulatory rule book that all Australian governments have signed up to, pricing must be determined taking into account the actual cost of doing business.

It is not reasonable to assume the prices of water in Victoria or New South Wales, or Queensland for that matter, are reflective of the costs of providing water here in South Australia. SA Water's costs are subject to independent review by ESCOSA. Cost efficiencies are identified by ESCOSA and are passed on to the customer. In fact, this process delivered a reduction of 6.4 per cent in 2013-14. If you want to talk about cash registers, let's talk about the last year of the last Liberal government and the dividend they took from SA Water. In today's terms—

Ms Chapman: Just make it up.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: No, I am not making it up. In today's terms, it was $170 million. The dividend—

The SPEAKER: Treasurer, that government was so long ago and far away that I do not think those remarks are relevant.