WATER meters will do almost nothing to curb usage because a fixed fee will make up about 60 per cent of all household bills, says Hobart lord mayor candidate Peter Sexton.
Although Dr Sexton, a Hobart City Council alderman, is not opposed to water meters, he was astounded to learn Southern Water was planning to slug residents with such high fixed charges.
In other cities the fixed charge usually accounts for only up to 35 per cent of an average household water bill.
But Southern Water has revealed in its Price and Service Plan 2012-15 that it hopes to charge $272 in the 2012-13 financial year as a fixed water service charge.
On top of the fixed charge, households would pay 90c a kilolitre for the water they use.
Southern Water predicts the total water and sewerage bill for the year for a typical household would be $941, including a fixed sewerage service charge of $489.
“Under Southern Water’s proposed pricing policy, approximately 60 per cent of the average water bill will be a fixed charge, leaving little ability or incentive for households to save money by reducing their water usage,” Dr Sexton said.
According to the National Water Commission, a fixed charge of $90 for ACT households in 2009-10 made up only 18.7 per cent of the total average water bill.
In Adelaide, the fixed charge of $138 accounted for 31 per cent of the average total bill.
Dr Sexton said many people were in favour of water meters for environmental reasons, but such a pricing system would cancel out any benefits. He said residents would quickly learn there was little point in saving water because the additional cost of using excessive amounts would be minor.
“It’s not a disincentive for people with big gardens, swimming pools or large properties,” he said.
“A likely reason for Southern Water to propose such a large fixed cost component of the average water bill is to cover the substantial costs of the State Government’s … water and sewerage reforms.”
• EMILY BRYAN, The Examiner: Hundreds to lose jobs in health: Unions claim
13 Sep, 2011 11:36 AM
Unions claim hundreds of fixed-term health workers will be given two weeks notice of termination under a Health Department plan to slash the final $30 million from its budget this financial year.
They say the Department of Health and Human Services plans to sack fixed-term doctors and locums, undergraduate paramedics and other frontline workers, including nurses.
Health and Community Services Union assistant secretary Tim Jacobson said the majority of the department’s fixed term workers were employed in direct service or patient care roles.
“Rather than genuinely reviewing programs and implementing structural reform that would deliver real and sustainable savings the government has resorted to sacking fixed term
workers simply because they are quick, easy and cheap to get rid of,” he said.
“Hospital patients can expect longer waiting lists if fixed term doctors and locums are sacked.”
The state government has been contacted for comment.
