Community Wastewater Management System

Mr BOYER (Wright) (15:32): I thought that now we are so close to the state election I would take this opportunity today to give residents of the north-eastern suburbs an update on where we are at in terms of the transition of the thousands of properties on the CWMS system to the SA Water network. Let's start with the things that we can agree on here.

The Community Wastewater Management System, as it is known, is past its use-by date. It is dysfunctional. Yes, it should have been fixed years and years ago, it is inconvenient for the 4,700 customers who are still stuck on that system in the north-eastern suburbs, it is becoming more expensive every year and it affects property prices.

When I talk to people who live outside the north-eastern metropolitan area in Adelaide, they are always shocked to hear that we still have people in inner suburban areas on a septic tank system. They are shocked that in 2021, 60 years after many of these properties were first developed and first built, they are still reliant on a septic tank for their waste. What many people do not know is that lots of those residents who remain stuck on the CWMS system, who bought those properties in the seventies or the eighties, were actually never even told that they were on a septic system.

In fact, the most incredible thing here is that many of these people did not actually learn that their house had a septic tank until it overflowed. It was not until their septic tank overflowed into their front yard or their backyard and they called the council to say, 'We don't know what's happening with our wastewater system here,' that the council came out and said, 'That's because you're on a septic tank system and every 10 years or so it actually needs to be pumped and emptied.'

There are some 800 CWMS properties in the seat of Wright, and I can tell you that some of the conversations I have had with those residents about the problems they have experienced over the many years they have still been on the system would make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Problems include effluent flowing backwards up through the property, regular excavation of the garden to unearth the septic tank so it can be pumped out and removed from the site, and even cases, and I have heard many of these, where residents have sought the approval of council to build something in their backyard—it might be a swimming pool, for instance, or an extension to the home—and have been given incorrect advice about where the CWMS easement actually lies.

This means, of course, that when we get to the transition path there are going to be people who have to have these home extensions, swimming pools and garden features moved so that the septic tank can be accessed through absolutely no fault of their own whatsoever. This brings me to the point I want to make about just how much these residents have been through. Not only are they burdened with an archaic and dilapidated wastewater management system but they are paying more and more for the privilege of being on it every year.

The service fee last year was about $650. This year, it is $725 and is going to go up and up from hereon in. We have said that enough is enough. If we are going to fix this, we need to fix it properly. It needs to be done in a way that does not further penalise these residents who have already been penalised for so many years by being stuck on this outdated system. By penalise, of course, I mean both financially and in terms of how long they have to wait for the transition. That is exactly what the Liberal government plan is going to do.

It is going to punish CWMS customers financially because the Liberals' plan relies on a financial contribution from the City of Tea Tree Gully. Should the council have transitioned properties off the CWMS earlier? Absolutely. We can all agree on that. But this notion from the current government that they are giving the council their comeuppance by asking for a financial contribution for the transition now is completely fanciful because the council does not have the money. Those are the cold hard facts of the situation.

I am not defending council for not taking action, but the truth of it is that if the government pursues this financial contribution it is just going to be passed onto the ratepayers because council is going to be forced to either raise their rates, and that is only if ESCOSA lets them do that and pass it onto the entire rates base, or borrow money, which inevitably shows up in future rate rises anyway. That is why the Malinauskas Labor team has committed to not penalising CWMS customers.

Our $92 million plan will mean the full transition of the 4,700 properties that are still on the CWMS system without any cost to the residents. Not only that but, because Labor has gone out there and has actually done the hard yards, knocked on doors and spoken to residents, we know that many of them are fearful about what damage will be done to their front and backyards when this transition starts. We know that residents who have spent years and years beautifying their homes do not want them irreparably damaged by these transition works.

For that reason, Labor will make sure there is funding for remediation works so that properties are left in a fit state once the transition works are complete. This is what CWMS customers deserve and this is what Labor will deliver if we form government in March.