SA Water Infrastructure

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ngo has the floor.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Yes, well, there is a lot of talking across the chamber. The Hon. Mr Ngo has the floor.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. Malinauskas interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Will the honourable minister please desist while his colleague is on his feet ready to ask a question? The Hon. Mr Ngo.

The Hon. T.T. NGO: My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister inform the chamber about the recent announcement that SA Water will invest an additional $55 million to improve our water mains over the next five years?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for his excellent question. He has clearly done some research and has read my letter. He has read my lovely letter the Hon. Mr Brokenshire referred to yesterday. Mr President, you may recall that last year SA Water announced that the average metropolitan water bill (combined water and sewerage bill) would be reduced by $87—an announcement that I imagine would be strongly supported by SA Water customers, a reduction in their bill of such a magnitude.

You may also recall, Mr President, that the Hon. Robert Brokenshire came into this place yesterday to attack that reduction in the average water bill. A former member of a Liberal government that privatised ETSA was having a go at SA Water for reducing customer bills. It was absolutely amazing. Anyway, South Australians want a water system that delivers reliable access to clean water all year round. We know that in regard to mains water bursts, South Australia's investment in infrastructure maintenance and renewal means we have fewer bursts than comparable water utilities interstate—a significantly better performance than Victoria or New South Wales, for example.

But we are continuously striving to do better. This is why last week I joined the Chief Executive of SA Water, Mr Roch Cheroux, to announce that we will invest an additional $55 million to improve our water assets and reduce the number of water mains failures in Adelaide over the next five years. This significant investment will see a further 100 kilometres of water mains relayed by 2020, in addition to the 274 kilometres already planned across the state and announced last year.

Around 48,000 metres of these replacements, I am advised, will occur in regional South Australia, with a significant focus on Whyalla, Moonta Bay, Crystal Brook and Victor Harbor. SA Water is also trialling several smart technologies, such as water mains pressure modulation in Kadina and pipe spray lining in Berri, to create efficiencies in how we manage our assets and give them longer life.

I would also like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the member for Giles, Mr Eddie Hughes, and minister Geoff Brock in the other place for their ongoing advocacy for infrastructure investment in our regions. They are continuously on my case, advancing the cause for further investment in the regions—

An honourable member interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —and I can only say that their approaches to me must outnumber those I get from the Liberals opposite about 100 times over.

We are also investing an additional $4 million to install smart water networks in the Adelaide CBD. This will enable SA Water to monitor changes in flow and pressure so they can fix faults and leaks before they escalate. This significant investment in pipe replacement will reduce the impact of water mains issues on SA Water customers and the broader community.

We know that we can't stop every single burst and leak in a highly pressurised 27,000 kilometre pipeline system, but by investing this money we can reduce their frequency and severity and the impact on our community. It will also reduce the impact of burst mains on commuters, which is especially important during peak hour travel. At the same time, this investment will also generate, I am advised, 150 new local jobs, creating a boost in local employment.

As I advised the chamber yesterday, there will be no increase in SA Water customer bills as a result of this increased expenditure on these upgrades. This is because the $55 million investment is coming as a result of a reprioritisation of resources that was, I am advised, negotiated successfully with ESCOSA.

The government, along with SA Water, is committed to listening to customer feedback to ensure that we provide the best possible water service for South Australians. SA Water will work with local councils and local communities to ensure that these replacements are done with the minimum amount of disruption possible.

There is, I am advised—and it's live, I think—a fantastic interactive map on the SA Water website that allows people to look at the upgrades and look at the pipes in their own street and seek information about the age of the pipes in their own area and whether those pipes are scheduled for replacement in the near term. The colour coding of green and pink, and indeed purple, I think, also on that map explain those differences, and I encourage all members to seek it out and check the utility of that device.

That is another outstanding example of the government and SA Water working together to deliver a better service for the people of South Australia in what is, of course, their own publicly-owned water utility. That is a striking contrast to the Liberals' plans for water in South Australia. We have known for a long time that the Liberals started out on a corporatisation, which was, of course, just code for pre-privatisation. We know that at the time it was called out for what it was in the media, as a precursor to privatisation. That's the Liberals' plans for SA Water.

The Hon. Rob Lucas, the minister for privatising ETSA, privatising Glenthorne Farm (when he sold the farm), and of course Modbury Hospital last time they were in government, and corporatising SA Water, getting it ripe and ready for a Liberal government privatisation scheme. I can't believe that Mr Lucas is still in this place, but of course he's got unfinished business.

We know that he won't rest until he gets to complete his business, and that is completing the journey of first corporatising SA Water and then privatising it. He's probably got a few mates over at the Adelaide Club that he's talking to right now who can't wait to get their hands on those assets. Or maybe he will just do what he did with ETSA, if he ever gets into government again, which is to degrade the network and then sell it to overseas interests.

This government will never privatise SA Water. It is far too valuable to not be kept in public hands. We make the critical investments to ensure that it delivers on its need to provide for the public good, which is water, and that it will stay in public hands whilst we have a Labor government in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!