❓ The McGowan government is bringing metropolitan water production and wastewater treatment services back into public hands by insourcing work previously done by the Aroona Alliance. This decision aims to benefit the community and employees by providing job security and ensuring water services remain publicly owned.
AnsweredQoN 1074Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION —
IN-HOUSE WORK
1074. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Water:
Do not get comfortable there,
minister! I refer to the McGowan government's decision to end the
Liberal Party's privatisation of a number of water services, which has
seen us able to bring 170 local workers back in house at the Water Corporation.
Could the minister update the house
on how bringing metropolitan water production and wastewater treatment services
back into public hands will benefit the community and employees?
IN-HOUSE WORK
1074. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Water:
Do not get comfortable there,
minister! I refer to the McGowan government's decision to end the
Liberal Party's privatisation of a number of water services, which has
seen us able to bring 170 local workers back in house at the Water Corporation.
Could the minister update the house
on how bringing metropolitan water production and wastewater treatment services
back into public hands will benefit the community and employees?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for Maylands for that question. Yes, today it was a privilege
to be out at the Water Corporation's Innovation Centre in
Shenton Park to announce to the workforce there that the board of the Water
Corporation has decided to bring back in house work that currently is being
done by the Aroona Alliance.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Balcatta.
Mr
D.J. KELLY : Currently, the Aroona
Alliance operates a bunch of Water Corporation assets in the metropolitan area—wastewater treatment plants, water treatment plants, dams and
trunk mains, to name a few. About 400 staff are involved, and just over 200 of
them are already Water Corporation employees, but 170 of them are currently
employed by a private entity. The Water Corporation board has decided to bring
all that work back in house, which will mean that those 170 workers currently
employed by the private sector will become directly employed by the Water
Corporation. When that announcement was made today, the workforce was
absolutely ecstatic. Long-term employees of the Water Corporation were telling
their stories. One guy who came to see me had been doing essentially the same
job for 20 years. He had had five different names on his shirt. He was pleased
that a Labor government had made the decision to reverse the privatisation of
these services, which began back in 1996 under the Court Liberal government. We
got the same story over and over again. People who were doing the same or similar job, every few years had the potential to
have their working lives disrupted by the next contractor or the next change of structure. From the staff's point of view, the announcement
was very well received. From the board's point of view, it was
absolutely the right thing to do. The new chief executive officer of the Water Corporation,
Pat Donovan, explained in some detail the process that the board went through
to reach the decision to insource those
services. A comprehensive business case was conducted that considered all the
options, including maintaining the current structure, right through to
insourcing. When the board looked at it, it made the decision that it was the
best thing for the business as well as the staff to bring that work back in
house. That follows a similar decision of the board in August to bring back in
house the Perth Region Alliance contract. About 250 people will become direct
employees of the Water Corporation.
On this side of the house, we have a
view that water is an essential service and that the public expects and is most
comfortable with these services being provided by direct employees of the Water
Corporation. We are proud of the job security for those staff that will come as
a result of this decision and we are pleased that in the board's view
this is the best thing for the business. I know that members opposite do not
like these sorts of decisions. As much as it is written all over their faces,
they do not like the public sector and especially the way the Water Corporation
has done its business. When members opposite were in government, they sold off
the construction division of the Water Corporation. It turned out to be an
absolute disaster for those staff. They privatised the water treatment plant at
Mundaring and signed a 35-year contract. That was the way members opposite
approached this essential service. I wish members opposite could have been at
the meeting today to hear stories from the staff and to listen to the new CEO
of the Water Corporation talk about the meticulous process it went through. We
on this side of the house believe that the
provision of water is an essential service and, consistent with the views of
most Western Australians, we believe those services are best placed in
public hands.
thank the member for Maylands for that question. Yes, today it was a privilege
to be out at the Water Corporation's Innovation Centre in
Shenton Park to announce to the workforce there that the board of the Water
Corporation has decided to bring back in house work that currently is being
done by the Aroona Alliance.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Balcatta.
Mr
D.J. KELLY : Currently, the Aroona
Alliance operates a bunch of Water Corporation assets in the metropolitan area—wastewater treatment plants, water treatment plants, dams and
trunk mains, to name a few. About 400 staff are involved, and just over 200 of
them are already Water Corporation employees, but 170 of them are currently
employed by a private entity. The Water Corporation board has decided to bring
all that work back in house, which will mean that those 170 workers currently
employed by the private sector will become directly employed by the Water
Corporation. When that announcement was made today, the workforce was
absolutely ecstatic. Long-term employees of the Water Corporation were telling
their stories. One guy who came to see me had been doing essentially the same
job for 20 years. He had had five different names on his shirt. He was pleased
that a Labor government had made the decision to reverse the privatisation of
these services, which began back in 1996 under the Court Liberal government. We
got the same story over and over again. People who were doing the same or similar job, every few years had the potential to
have their working lives disrupted by the next contractor or the next change of structure. From the staff's point of view, the announcement
was very well received. From the board's point of view, it was
absolutely the right thing to do. The new chief executive officer of the Water Corporation,
Pat Donovan, explained in some detail the process that the board went through
to reach the decision to insource those
services. A comprehensive business case was conducted that considered all the
options, including maintaining the current structure, right through to
insourcing. When the board looked at it, it made the decision that it was the
best thing for the business as well as the staff to bring that work back in
house. That follows a similar decision of the board in August to bring back in
house the Perth Region Alliance contract. About 250 people will become direct
employees of the Water Corporation.
On this side of the house, we have a
view that water is an essential service and that the public expects and is most
comfortable with these services being provided by direct employees of the Water
Corporation. We are proud of the job security for those staff that will come as
a result of this decision and we are pleased that in the board's view
this is the best thing for the business. I know that members opposite do not
like these sorts of decisions. As much as it is written all over their faces,
they do not like the public sector and especially the way the Water Corporation
has done its business. When members opposite were in government, they sold off
the construction division of the Water Corporation. It turned out to be an
absolute disaster for those staff. They privatised the water treatment plant at
Mundaring and signed a 35-year contract. That was the way members opposite
approached this essential service. I wish members opposite could have been at
the meeting today to hear stories from the staff and to listen to the new CEO
of the Water Corporation talk about the meticulous process it went through. We
on this side of the house believe that the
provision of water is an essential service and, consistent with the views of
most Western Australians, we believe those services are best placed in
public hands.
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