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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-03 Daily Xml
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Water Pricing

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:27): I have a supplementary question. Does the minister understand the difference between ESCOSA setting prices and setting revenue caps?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:28): As I understand it, ESCOSA sets the revenue that SA Water can actually obtain. That has been the process that we have adopted and that is the process that we will keep for the foreseeable future, until such time as there is a better system that we may want to think about.

The important thing is this: the system we have now has reduced water prices by 6.4 per cent. What does the Liberal Party of this state have to offer to SA Water consumers? Nothing but privatisation and cost increases, when their mates in the big end of town—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister has the floor. If you want to waste question time, that is your choice, but the minister has the floor and we want to hear his answer.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: As I said in this place yesterday, that mob on the other side have form in this regard. Over there is a former—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Honourable members, the minister has the floor.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Over there is a former Liberal treasurer responsible for selling off—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Stephens!

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: —our Electricity Trust of South Australia. Over there, Mr President, over there on the other side of the chamber is the person responsible for selling off ETSA. Do you really think anyone in South Australia believes that, if the Liberal Party of South Australia ever got their hands on SA Water, they would be—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! Have we got the clock fixed yet? We have already wasted a few minutes of the time. The minister has the floor: just as those who ask the questions expect silence when asking a question, the minister has the right to silence when he is answering it. Minister.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: They must be sensitive to this topic, of course, because, as I said, because they have form. Their Liberal Party confederates in other states—

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Maher, don't engage, just listen to the minister.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Their Liberal Party confederates in other states are lining up to take the money on offer from the commonwealth government to privatise assets. We have said consistently before the election, in the lead-up to the election, that we will not be privatising SA Water assets. We know that those opposite had a secret plan in their back pocket; they would not take it to the election, but everybody in South Australia knows you cannot trust the Liberal Party with public assets.

The PRESIDENT: Supplementary, Hon. Ms Lensink.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Ms Lensink has the floor.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Maher, the Hon. Ms Lensink has the floor.

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