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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
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Water Industry Reform

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): Can the Treasurer perhaps provide an update to the house on comments made by minister Hunter, who said:

In terms of our third-party access legislation, I understand that we are in discussions with the commonwealth on that and once we have a response from the commonwealth and we can address any concerns they might have then I will proceed further.

If it is the Treasurer who is having those negotiations with the commonwealth, can he update the house on those negotiations with the commonwealth? Is the reason why those negotiations have stalled to do with the commonwealth's asset recycling program?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:10): Just to provide some additional information for the benefit of the house—and I will provide a fuller answer once we have a report from the Minister for Water—but something that I am aware of that I know bears on this question is the whole question of the integrity of the water network.

You will remember this was a celebrated debate in the lead-up to the 2010 election where the member for MacKillop wanted us to collect all of our stormwater and recycle that and start using it. One of the issues that arose in that context was the access points into the reticulated network for, essentially, the providers of water. So the argument went that you could clean up water to a potable water standard, put it into the reticulated network and that third-party access would provide the basis for another source of water. Well, it's not as simple as that. The CSIRO, while they have looked at this matter and while they do conclude that you can take stormwater up to potable standards—

Mr van Holst Pellekaan interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: No, while you can take stormwater to potable standards, when you introduce it into the reticulated network what happens is that, because even potable water has different chemical composition, it reacts with the water that's in the existing network and can produce some unfortunate results. In particular, what it does is reduce the disinfectant effect of the filtration system that is already part of our system. One of the reasons why—

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: This is something—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: We tend to take for granted, Mr Speaker—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I hear the interjection—

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is warned a first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I hear the interjection that 'potable water is potable water', but the truth is it's not. It has a slightly different chemical composition and it reacts—it is not inert. There are lots of materials inside pipes which can leach out and compromise the integrity of the water supply.

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I am trying to assist the house with what I think is relevant information about something which—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —is of importance—

The SPEAKER: The leader is warned.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —for the integrity of our water supply. A lot of things that we take for granted like hygiene and a fresh-drinking water supply are not universally experienced all around the world. We have incredibly high water quality standards; we have some of the world's experts on this. What I am telling you now isn't information that I have of my own knowledge, it's information that comes from world-leading experts based here in South Australia about maintaining the integrity of our water quality.

Ms Chapman: So, what's the hold-up?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: What that means then—

Ms Chapman: Oh, great!

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —is that third-party access into our reticulated water supply system is a complex process, and there are important considerations—

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —that need to be taken into account—

Mr Tarzia interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —before one would allow open slather access.

The SPEAKER: The member for Hartley is called to order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: It is not the complete answer to the question—

Ms Chapman: You've got 25 seconds.

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned a first time.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I offer this for the assistance of the house.

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