❓ A parliamentary question regarding water fees and charges in Western Australia. The Minister defends the government's record on water affordability and accuses the opposition leader of making misleading statements about water costs.
AnsweredQoN 149Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CORPORATION —
FEES AND CHARGES
149. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the responsible financial
management of the McGowan government that has allowed us to keep increases to
household fees and charges at the lowest level in 13 years.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the government is supporting households in
being more water efficient and further lowering their water bills?
(2) Could the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone making incorrect or
misleading statements about household water fees and charges?
FEES AND CHARGES
149. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the responsible financial
management of the McGowan government that has allowed us to keep increases to
household fees and charges at the lowest level in 13 years.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how the government is supporting households in
being more water efficient and further lowering their water bills?
(2) Could the
minister advise the house whether he is aware of anyone making incorrect or
misleading statements about household water fees and charges?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member
for Maylands for her question.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I want
to hear this.
Mr D.J. KELLY : Just to recap
for the house, the previous Liberal–National government put water bills
up by 66.8 per cent, including by 28.3 per cent in its first year, which, as
the Treasurer has indicated, coincided with much
of the global financial crisis. We can compare that with the first three years
of this government. There has been a 14.6 per cent increase in water
bills, including an increase of only 2.5 per cent in last year's
budget, which is the lowest increase in over a decade. In addition to that, we
have reduced by over 60 per cent the number of households that have had their
water cut off for non-payment issues. Under the previous government, 2 500
households each year had their water reduced to a trickle because they could
not pay their bills. We have now reduced that number by over 60 per cent
because we are much more proactive in the way in which we deal with hardship
cases.
Members
may have heard the Leader of the Opposition on Friday. I will give a bit of
context. Each year, the Bureau of Meteorology puts out a national
performance report for urban water utilities. The ''National Performance
Report 2018–19: Urban Water Utilities'' came out last week. The
Leader of the Opposition jumped on Channel Nine and said that this report says that it costs $547 to deliver the service—that
is, water—to a Western Australian household , but households are paying $1 547 for the service,
so the government is overcharging by over $1 000 per home. Of course, the
report said nothing of the sort. According to the report, the typical household
bill in Perth is $1 547 a year and it says the operating cost of
delivering the service to each home is $547 per year. The Leader of the
Opposition has subtracted one number from the other and got a thousand bucks
and said, ''You're overcharging by a thousand bucks.'' Of
course, the Leader of the Opposition should know that the operating cost of
providing water to a household does not include the capital cost of providing
that service.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Cottesloe!
Mr D.J. KELLY : The operating
cost is what it takes to run the service once it is built; the capital cost is
what it takes to build the service. We do not get the desalination plants for
free, we do not get the dams for free and we do not get the pipes for free.
They are called capital costs. We have to include that in the cost.
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine, I heard you three times and no-one laughed. I call you to order.
Mr
D.J. KELLY : If the Leader of the
Opposition was also across the detail, she would know that the Water
Corporation had other obligations put
in place when the Water Corporations Act was passed by a previous Liberal
government — for example, tax
equivalents. The Water Corporation pays an equivalent tax rate to a private
enterprise. All those things are costs that the Water Corporation is
required to recover when it charges for water. The Leader of the Opposition was
given two figures out of this report, subtracted one from the other and went on
telly saying, ''You're
overcharging people by $1 000 a year per household.'' Leader of the
Opposition—wrong, wrong, wrong. She then went on to say on Channel Nine that the government chose to put
water charges up by seven per cent when it knew it was already overcharging.
Again, I have not seen a seven per cent increase in water charges any time
recently.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : Not since the
Libs were in power.
Mr D.J. KELLY : Not since the
Libs were in power, the Treasurer correctly informs me. The Leader of the
Opposition saw in the executive summary of this report that prices had gone up
in Perth by 7.2 per cent. She clearly did
not read the rest of the report, because the body of the report has a completely
different figure—it says 3.9 per cent . When we saw that figure, we saw that the executive summary was clearly
wrong, so we contacted BOM. Matthew Walker, BOM's water
reporting unit head, sent us an email dated 10 March, in which he says —
In the report, a typical residential
bill for Western Australia utilities was erroneously reported in the Executive
Summary as a 7.2% increase but should have be reported as 3.9% as per page 23
of the report.
Clearly,
either the Leader of the Opposition deliberately misled the public or she just
does not understand the details.
Withdrawal of Remark
The SPEAKER : Minister, you
cannot say ''deliberately misled'', so withdraw.
Mr D.J. KELLY : I am sorry, I thought
I said ''either''. She clearly —
Several members interjected.
Mr D.J. KELLY : The opposition
can tell us —
The SPEAKER : Minister,
withdraw.
Mr D.J.
KELLY : My apologies, Mr Speaker. I withdraw that remark.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr D.J. KELLY : I will let the
Leader of the Opposition explain why she went on Channel Nine last week and
gave some completely wrong information to the public. Did she simply not read
the report? The only explanation I can see is that it was given to her by the
opposition spokesperson for water.
The SPEAKER : Minister!
Mr D.J. KELLY : If the Leader
of the Opposition is going to rely on information from the member for
Cottesloe, she is in serious trouble.
for Maylands for her question.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I want
to hear this.
Mr D.J. KELLY : Just to recap
for the house, the previous Liberal–National government put water bills
up by 66.8 per cent, including by 28.3 per cent in its first year, which, as
the Treasurer has indicated, coincided with much
of the global financial crisis. We can compare that with the first three years
of this government. There has been a 14.6 per cent increase in water
bills, including an increase of only 2.5 per cent in last year's
budget, which is the lowest increase in over a decade. In addition to that, we
have reduced by over 60 per cent the number of households that have had their
water cut off for non-payment issues. Under the previous government, 2 500
households each year had their water reduced to a trickle because they could
not pay their bills. We have now reduced that number by over 60 per cent
because we are much more proactive in the way in which we deal with hardship
cases.
Members
may have heard the Leader of the Opposition on Friday. I will give a bit of
context. Each year, the Bureau of Meteorology puts out a national
performance report for urban water utilities. The ''National Performance
Report 2018–19: Urban Water Utilities'' came out last week. The
Leader of the Opposition jumped on Channel Nine and said that this report says that it costs $547 to deliver the service—that
is, water—to a Western Australian household , but households are paying $1 547 for the service,
so the government is overcharging by over $1 000 per home. Of course, the
report said nothing of the sort. According to the report, the typical household
bill in Perth is $1 547 a year and it says the operating cost of
delivering the service to each home is $547 per year. The Leader of the
Opposition has subtracted one number from the other and got a thousand bucks
and said, ''You're overcharging by a thousand bucks.'' Of
course, the Leader of the Opposition should know that the operating cost of
providing water to a household does not include the capital cost of providing
that service.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Cottesloe!
Mr D.J. KELLY : The operating
cost is what it takes to run the service once it is built; the capital cost is
what it takes to build the service. We do not get the desalination plants for
free, we do not get the dams for free and we do not get the pipes for free.
They are called capital costs. We have to include that in the cost.
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine, I heard you three times and no-one laughed. I call you to order.
Mr
D.J. KELLY : If the Leader of the
Opposition was also across the detail, she would know that the Water
Corporation had other obligations put
in place when the Water Corporations Act was passed by a previous Liberal
government — for example, tax
equivalents. The Water Corporation pays an equivalent tax rate to a private
enterprise. All those things are costs that the Water Corporation is
required to recover when it charges for water. The Leader of the Opposition was
given two figures out of this report, subtracted one from the other and went on
telly saying, ''You're
overcharging people by $1 000 a year per household.'' Leader of the
Opposition—wrong, wrong, wrong. She then went on to say on Channel Nine that the government chose to put
water charges up by seven per cent when it knew it was already overcharging.
Again, I have not seen a seven per cent increase in water charges any time
recently.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : Not since the
Libs were in power.
Mr D.J. KELLY : Not since the
Libs were in power, the Treasurer correctly informs me. The Leader of the
Opposition saw in the executive summary of this report that prices had gone up
in Perth by 7.2 per cent. She clearly did
not read the rest of the report, because the body of the report has a completely
different figure—it says 3.9 per cent . When we saw that figure, we saw that the executive summary was clearly
wrong, so we contacted BOM. Matthew Walker, BOM's water
reporting unit head, sent us an email dated 10 March, in which he says —
In the report, a typical residential
bill for Western Australia utilities was erroneously reported in the Executive
Summary as a 7.2% increase but should have be reported as 3.9% as per page 23
of the report.
Clearly,
either the Leader of the Opposition deliberately misled the public or she just
does not understand the details.
Withdrawal of Remark
The SPEAKER : Minister, you
cannot say ''deliberately misled'', so withdraw.
Mr D.J. KELLY : I am sorry, I thought
I said ''either''. She clearly —
Several members interjected.
Mr D.J. KELLY : The opposition
can tell us —
The SPEAKER : Minister,
withdraw.
Mr D.J.
KELLY : My apologies, Mr Speaker. I withdraw that remark.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr D.J. KELLY : I will let the
Leader of the Opposition explain why she went on Channel Nine last week and
gave some completely wrong information to the public. Did she simply not read
the report? The only explanation I can see is that it was given to her by the
opposition spokesperson for water.
The SPEAKER : Minister!
Mr D.J. KELLY : If the Leader
of the Opposition is going to rely on information from the member for
Cottesloe, she is in serious trouble.
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