Legislative Council Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1) 53 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Water Pricing Water Pricing The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE Legislative Council Water Pricing The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:31): A supplementary to the minister's answer: the minister said that country water consumers had community service obligations—postage-stamp pricing. Does he stand by that for the farmers who have seen hundreds of per cent increases in the last few years and are now paying upwards of $90,000 to $100,000 a year for stock water? Where is the community service obligation there? The Hon. I.K. HUNTER Legislative Council Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Water Pricing The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:32): I have warned the honourable member in the past about pursuing this line, because what he is actually doing is advocating to take the CSOs off communities in rural and regional South Australia. They will be exposed by the policies of Family First and the Liberal Party in this place to much higher water prices, because it costs a lot more to deliver water to remote and sparsely populated communities of our state than it does to a large, dense population like a town or a city. But we believe in this state, the Labor government believes, that it is only fair that that cost is spread across all SA Water customers so everyone benefits from postage-stamp pricing. If the Hon. Mr Brokenshire wants to change that policy, he should be honest enough to get up and tell his community why.