❓ Dr. Honey questions water price increases impacting WA households, particularly high-usage consumers. The Minister defends the tiered tariff system, arguing it incentivizes water conservation and benefits low-income earners through reduced service charges.
AnsweredQoN 936Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION —
FEES AND CHARGES
936. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Water:
I have a supplementary question.
Will the minister admit that the water price increases are really hurting Western
Australians in the lead-up to Christmas, especially the 39 000 households with
usage of more than 500 kilolitres that have been slugged with water use charge
increases of up to 40 per cent?
FEES AND CHARGES
936. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Minister for Water:
I have a supplementary question.
Will the minister admit that the water price increases are really hurting Western
Australians in the lead-up to Christmas, especially the 39 000 households with
usage of more than 500 kilolitres that have been slugged with water use charge
increases of up to 40 per cent?
AnswerView source ↗
As the member for Cottesloe knows,
in the last budget we introduced a higher tariff for people who use more than
500 kilolitres a year. That is what we did for the top end of users.
Dr D.J. Honey : Mostly
families.
Mr
D.J. KELLY : How many people live
in a household is not the key determinant of how much water a household uses.
Over 40 per cent of household water use is in the garden. Gardens do not vary
in size depending on how many people are in the household. It really is
disingenuous of the member to say that high water users are mainly large
families. When we look at who those people are, we see that they are
disproportionately people who live in wealthier suburbs such as Nedlands, Dalkeith
and Cottesloe. On a percentage basis, they are the high water users in the
metropolitan area. But by increasing the water tariffs for the highest users,
we were able to halve the expected increase in the service charge. The service
charge was increased in the last budget by only three per cent, not six per cent,
which is what the member for Cottesloe would have done had he been the Minister
for Water.
One of the common complaints that
low-income earners make is that no matter how much water they save, the bulk of
their bill is in the service charge. Therefore, we halved the expected increase
in the service charge so that people who are frugal with their water would be
rewarded. We recovered that lost revenue by increasing the water charge for
people who use the most water—the seven per cent of users in Western Australia
who collectively use 17 per cent of scheme
water. We have given a price incentive—something that which even the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry applauded us for—to the biggest
users, and at the same time given some price relief, through a lower surcharge
increase, for those people at the frugal end of the water use scale.
in the last budget we introduced a higher tariff for people who use more than
500 kilolitres a year. That is what we did for the top end of users.
Dr D.J. Honey : Mostly
families.
Mr
D.J. KELLY : How many people live
in a household is not the key determinant of how much water a household uses.
Over 40 per cent of household water use is in the garden. Gardens do not vary
in size depending on how many people are in the household. It really is
disingenuous of the member to say that high water users are mainly large
families. When we look at who those people are, we see that they are
disproportionately people who live in wealthier suburbs such as Nedlands, Dalkeith
and Cottesloe. On a percentage basis, they are the high water users in the
metropolitan area. But by increasing the water tariffs for the highest users,
we were able to halve the expected increase in the service charge. The service
charge was increased in the last budget by only three per cent, not six per cent,
which is what the member for Cottesloe would have done had he been the Minister
for Water.
One of the common complaints that
low-income earners make is that no matter how much water they save, the bulk of
their bill is in the service charge. Therefore, we halved the expected increase
in the service charge so that people who are frugal with their water would be
rewarded. We recovered that lost revenue by increasing the water charge for
people who use the most water—the seven per cent of users in Western Australia
who collectively use 17 per cent of scheme
water. We have given a price incentive—something that which even the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry applauded us for—to the biggest
users, and at the same time given some price relief, through a lower surcharge
increase, for those people at the frugal end of the water use scale.
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