House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-30 Daily Xml

Contents

WATER CONSUMPTION

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop) (14:53): My question is to the Minister for Water Security. Is the fact that the SA Water website no longer provides information to allow comparisons between weekly, monthly or yearly water consumption confirmation that the government, in spite of severe water restrictions, is not meeting its water use targets? If not, will she as minister instruct SA Water to again publish such data?

The Hon. K.A. MAYWALD (Chaffey—Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water Security) (14:53): The data that we have on the website clearly indicates the consumption against the target the state government has. It is in a different format from what the member was used to seeing. We have a graph that demonstrates the water use against the target of the government. South Australia is doing a great job with water savings.

It gives me an opportunity, and I am pleased to say that the South Australian consumer is doing a terrific job in saving water. People in this state are actively involved in water conservation and understand the importance of the water restrictions during this incredibly dry period. In fact, against 2002, which was the last very dry year, very similar to this year, South Australians have saved 40 billion litres for the same period of time. That is an extraordinary effort, and it has enabled us today to provide some flexibility which I will report to the house in a ministerial statement following question time.