SA Water

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Water and the River Murray. Will the minister advise the council of the government's position with respect to SA Water remaining a public asset?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:49): I commend the questioner for his fantastic question, on point as always and coming at a time when we see the federal government prowling around the states looking for assets to privatise, to flog off, to harm Australian consumers. We have a willing opposition here prepared to sign up to it willy-nilly, take our assets and drive up the prices. That is what they want to do, but that is not what Labor does. This question is very important because it touches the very heart of the government's policy, and it is something that is obviously important for all South Australians.

This government takes its responsibilities seriously. We are not interested in a quick fix. I therefore wish to remind the chamber that the government is committed to keeping SA Water and its assets firmly in the hands of South Australians.

SA Water is a publicly owned asset operating in the private market. There is always an inherent challenge when a corporatised agency (a change introduced by a Liberal government)—and I remind the chamber who corporatised SA Water in the first place; I think it was, in fact, a Liberal government—is responsible for providing the public with a service for the common good. What this means is that SA Water must constantly evaluate its business against these competing demands, and SA Water has shown that it is more than able to do this.

The past months have been a very significant time for SA Water during some significant organisational change for them. The government's vision for all South Australian utilities is that they be efficient and offer supply at competitive prices. This is why the state government has introduced the economic regulation of SA Water, reforms which have already resulted in water prices dropping by an average of 6.4 per cent and increases of no more than CPI for the next two years in the regulated period. Nevertheless, efficiency and competitive measures should not mean a drop in service standards either.

SA Water has over 750,000 customers and, as outlined in the National Water Commission's National Performance Report in March of this year, servicing these customers is no mean feat. I could talk a great deal about how SA Water is responsive to its customer base. I have written a letter to honourable members outlining a way that they can encourage their constituents to feed back to SA Water, and they will be getting that letter very shortly.

In recent weeks there has been talk, as you would know, sir, about the privatisation of public assets around this country. The federal government has offered states an additional 15 per cent one-off funding on the money that each state can raise through asset sales—

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: Is this your vision?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, when we talk about vision, the Hon. Ms Lensink, the vision of your colleagues, your Liberal Party, is to flog off assets. That is your vision.

The Hon. J.M.A. Lensink: You know that's not true.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: That's all you have, empty rhetoric of an empty party bereft of ideas—

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Point of order, Mr President. This minister knows that the ownership of the things he is addressing to this side of the council is not 'your' and he should address his remarks through you.

The PRESIDENT: The honourable minister?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Mr President, I stand chastised. As we know, those opposite have a plan of just selling off assets. They are bereft of ideas and they have paid the price for it. The payment, of course, from the federal government would only be paid if the money is used on infrastructure projects approved by the federal government that must commence within two years. They are the parameters being laid down, as I understand it. The federal Treasurer calls this the 'asset recycling pool'.

Here in South Australia we know a thing or two about recycling, and this does not sound like a scheme we would want to implement here. Selling SA Water or its assets would be a short-term cash injection, as opposed to decades of provision of essential services that South Australians depend on. Selling SA Water would also undermine our state's water security, something that this Labor government has guaranteed after being neglected by the former Liberal government.

A report commissioned last year by an august organisation called the Electrical Trades Union in Victoria concluded that electricity prices have risen more steeply in South Australia and Victoria than elsewhere since the sell-off of the public electricity assets, public no more.

According to this report there are no long-term benefits to government from a sale of assets to pay down debt and, as I have said before, the sale of public assets is a short-term solution. This Labor government is a government which plans for the longer term. We are not interested, as I said before, in quick fixes for political gain. We prefer to invest and ensure that SA Water remains an industry leader and sets the bar for every other water utility in Australia. This is our long-term plan.

However, the Liberals here in South Australia, in addition to their colleagues in Canberra, have no long-term plans at all. They, who are happy to watch the federal government remove its support from Holden's in this state, would also be happy to carve up SA Water. This is their plan: 'No privatisation of SA Water but we will not tell you what we are going to do with the assets.' This is privatisation by stealth, and this state government will not let it happen.

Keeping SA Water in public hands means that any profits can be used for the good of the state of every South Australian. It means they can be invested in public services rather than falling into the pockets of investors who, frankly, do not live here and do not care about the state. Keeping SA Water in public hands means that we can continue to deliver a public health service to South Australians regardless of the return, which means that we can invest in remote and regional communities or areas that a private company would be ignoring.

Keeping SA Water in public hands means that SA Water can continue to be at the forefront of technology, innovation and water quality research. Keeping SA Water in public hands means that prices will be regulated by ESCOSA and that SA Water is accountable to its owners, the taxpayers of South Australia. This state government will not allow SA Water to be sold off and carved up, as the Liberals would like, because we have a state-of-the-art asset here in South Australia, one that we will keep in public hands for the good of all South Australians.