TasWater Chairman Miles Hampton has described the latest State Government misinformed
attack on TasWater’s infrastructure upgrade program as extremely disappointing.
Mr Hampton was responding to claims today by Liberal Parliamentary Secretary Sarah
Courtney supporting the Government’s push to take over the ownership of TasWater from
local government.
He said the Government was continuing to quote doubtful figures and make dubious claims in
an attempt to convince Tasmanians that its hostile takeover would be good for consumers.
“It is not good for each Tasmanian household to be saddled with an additional $3000 in debt
as a result of the Government’s proposed extra borrowings, and it is certainly not good to pass
on these costs to future generations,” Mr Hampton said.
“Ms Courtney claims TasWater’s charges will rise by five percent each year for the next six
years, yet the average increase forecast is actually 4.1 percent and even this will have to be
approved by the Economic Regulator.
“She also intimates that the remaining boiled water and do not consume alerts will take 10
years to remove under Taswater’s infrastructure upgrade plan. The fact is that 99.2 percent of
Tasmanians already have access to potable water and all alerts will be removed within the next
18 months.
“Ms Courtney talks of sewerage spills, yet TasWater has not received a single infringement
notice from the Environment Protection Agency or the Department of Health and Human
Services.
“The claims are false and it is extremely poor form for the Government to use them in such a
misleading way.”
Mr Hampton said struggling Tasmanian households, far from receiving the savings suggested
by the State Government, would pay much more in the future because of the unnecessary
borrowing to pay for the Government’s plan.
TasWater
Duncan Mills
April 23, 2017 at 12:30
Taken for granted too often are the necessities of life: clean air, water and food. Little wonder that cancer has become the modern scourge.
How can we trust a government that lies so blatantly with the care of these vitals of life.
For all its failings as a system of governance, local government is generally more trustworthy and accountable than Tasmanian state government.
From State state governments licence of holocaust forestry that incinerates and poisons our wildlife, air and suffocates streams with silt; agriculture that dumps toxins in our food chain and waterways; to aquaculture that dumps sewage in our streams and bays, all for the sake of election donations from cronies gaming human weakness.
To lie so easily and blatantly, it would come as no surprise to see them disenfranchise Tasmanian’s further by privatising our precious water to the same mates.
At least with current arrangements we have the notion, if not the practical reality yet, of independent supervision of standards.