SA Water Bills

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (14:40): My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business. What support is the small business minister providing to businesses who are now facing water bills that have doubled and in some cases tripled in price? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: the member has stated a purported fact in his question, so I ask him to rephrase it.

The SPEAKER: Member for Flinders, could you—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Elder and the member for Newland are warned.

Mr TELFER: My question is to the Minister for Small and Family Business.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Members on my right, I want to hear the question and I can't if you are yelling out. Minister for Trade, final warning.

Mr TELFER: What support is the small business minister providing to businesses who are facing increased water bills? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TELFER: Last week The Advertiser reported that a small business owner whose business is based in Kensington had received a water bill that had almost tripled from $1,200 to $3,000 compared to the same period last year. The business owner described this increase as 'unsustainable'.

The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:42): To assist the opposition, what is occurring at the moment is a record consumption. In fact, it's the second-highest level of consumption since the turn of the century. To the end of April this year, we have consumed 166 gigalitres, and normally in Adelaide the average over the last five years has been 155 gigalitres. What is driving these increases in people's bills is an increase in consumption of water, so let's just understand it's a dry year and we have consumption going through the roof. You can wilfully misunderstand, if you like, or you can accept the logic that if you use more water you will get a higher bill. For any small business or any customer, we would encourage them to contact SA Water to get advice on how to lower those by lowering usage.