❓ The Minister for Water outlines a new five-year water supply agreement with the Gascoyne Water Co-operative, highlighting its benefits for growers and criticising the previous government's handling of the issue and the current member for North West Central's opposition.
AnsweredQoN 390Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
GASCOYNE
WATER CO-OPERATIVE
390. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's strong
commitment to supporting food production workers and businesses in Western Australia's
horticultural industry. Can the minister outline what the new water supply
agreement with the Gascoyne Water Co-operative will mean for growers in the
region and how this will support sustainable growth of food production in the
Gascoyne?
WATER CO-OPERATIVE
390. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's strong
commitment to supporting food production workers and businesses in Western Australia's
horticultural industry. Can the minister outline what the new water supply
agreement with the Gascoyne Water Co-operative will mean for growers in the
region and how this will support sustainable growth of food production in the
Gascoyne?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question and I thank him for his
representation on many issues relating to regional WA, least of which is water,
which is what today's question is about. The Gascoyne Water Co-op is
obviously very important to the growers in the Carnarvon region. It transferred
from government ownership to the private sector and became a private business
in 2001. As part of that transfer, it negotiated a 10-year water supply
agreement with the Water Corporation. Like most other businesses, that was
based on the growers paying the true cost for the provision of that water. That
agreement expired in 2013. Unfortunately, the previous government could not get
its act together to negotiate a new water supply agreement for the co-op
through the Water Corporation. From 2013, up until we came to government,
growers faced a great deal of uncertainty. Obviously, for those people who are
in the horticulture business, their water supply is the most important asset.
The growers endured quite a difficult position in that they did not know what
their future would be. They could not plan for the future. One of the things we
wanted to do when we came to government was establish a new long-term agreement
for the growers in the Carnarvon region so
that they could plan and grow their businesses. I am pleased to advise the
house that we have, in fact, signed a new five-year agreement with the
Gascoyne Water Co-op for new water pricing, which will again establish cost
reflectivity for water. It will be phased in over the next five years and
includes a whole lot of other packages that will improve business for the
Gascoyne Water Co-Operative. Additional land will be made available through the
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and I want to
congratulate the Minister for Agriculture and Food for the work that she has
done on this agreement. There will also be improved infrastructure for the
growers.
It really is a good
deal for the growers in Carnarvon. I want to quote from one of the co-op's
directors, Tom Day, who gave an interview on 9 August in which he described the
new agreement as welcome and very positive, and said it gave certainty to the
growers. He urged everybody to get behind the agreement and not muck it up.
After a long period of uncertainty created by the previous government, they can
now go forward with confidence.
Of
course with the reference to not mucking it up, there are some people who have
been agitating against the agreement.
Mr D.T. Punch : Who's
that?
Mr D.J. KELLY : The member for
North West Central, who prior to the election, having failed under the previous
government to deal with this issue, was out there attacking members of the
co-op who were negotiating in good faith with the government and undermining
the process and making promises that he knew he would never have to keep
because they were never going to win the election. He is still out there
undermining the good work of the co-op to get this business back onto a secure
footing.
We know the member for North West
Central is good at undermining and attacking people, because we see what he
does in his own team. We know how good he is. We know he is a fan of Barnaby
Joyce. We know he does not like his own leader. We know he does not like his
own deputy leader. He is a great force of destruction. While for me a new member for North West Central at the
election would have been immensely welcome, in some ways I am glad to have the member for North West Central
back in the Parliament, because we know he is not only a destructive
force in the community, he is a destructive force on the opposition benches.
representation on many issues relating to regional WA, least of which is water,
which is what today's question is about. The Gascoyne Water Co-op is
obviously very important to the growers in the Carnarvon region. It transferred
from government ownership to the private sector and became a private business
in 2001. As part of that transfer, it negotiated a 10-year water supply
agreement with the Water Corporation. Like most other businesses, that was
based on the growers paying the true cost for the provision of that water. That
agreement expired in 2013. Unfortunately, the previous government could not get
its act together to negotiate a new water supply agreement for the co-op
through the Water Corporation. From 2013, up until we came to government,
growers faced a great deal of uncertainty. Obviously, for those people who are
in the horticulture business, their water supply is the most important asset.
The growers endured quite a difficult position in that they did not know what
their future would be. They could not plan for the future. One of the things we
wanted to do when we came to government was establish a new long-term agreement
for the growers in the Carnarvon region so
that they could plan and grow their businesses. I am pleased to advise the
house that we have, in fact, signed a new five-year agreement with the
Gascoyne Water Co-op for new water pricing, which will again establish cost
reflectivity for water. It will be phased in over the next five years and
includes a whole lot of other packages that will improve business for the
Gascoyne Water Co-Operative. Additional land will be made available through the
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and I want to
congratulate the Minister for Agriculture and Food for the work that she has
done on this agreement. There will also be improved infrastructure for the
growers.
It really is a good
deal for the growers in Carnarvon. I want to quote from one of the co-op's
directors, Tom Day, who gave an interview on 9 August in which he described the
new agreement as welcome and very positive, and said it gave certainty to the
growers. He urged everybody to get behind the agreement and not muck it up.
After a long period of uncertainty created by the previous government, they can
now go forward with confidence.
Of
course with the reference to not mucking it up, there are some people who have
been agitating against the agreement.
Mr D.T. Punch : Who's
that?
Mr D.J. KELLY : The member for
North West Central, who prior to the election, having failed under the previous
government to deal with this issue, was out there attacking members of the
co-op who were negotiating in good faith with the government and undermining
the process and making promises that he knew he would never have to keep
because they were never going to win the election. He is still out there
undermining the good work of the co-op to get this business back onto a secure
footing.
We know the member for North West
Central is good at undermining and attacking people, because we see what he
does in his own team. We know how good he is. We know he is a fan of Barnaby
Joyce. We know he does not like his own leader. We know he does not like his
own deputy leader. He is a great force of destruction. While for me a new member for North West Central at the
election would have been immensely welcome, in some ways I am glad to have the member for North West Central
back in the Parliament, because we know he is not only a destructive
force in the community, he is a destructive force on the opposition benches.
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