Sydney Water price investigation nobbled by political interference

Tuesday, 16 October 2007 02:45

TEC Urban Campaigner Mr Leigh Martin said “With Sydney Water seeking massive prices increases to pay for a desalination plant any investigation should consider whether the plant is needed and the price rises justified. The government, however, has nobbled the IPART review by preventing the Tribunal from considering this key question”.

IPART is currently considering a proposal by Sydney Water to sharply increase prices to cover the cost of a 250 megalitre per day desalination plant at Kurnell. A directive by the Minister for Water Utilities Nathan Rees has restricted the Tribunal to considering only the most cost effective way to build and operate the plant and prevents any consideration of whether the plant is even needed in the first place.

“It is clear that any proper investigation would consider that Sydney does not need a desalination plant, particularly given the government’s decision to go against its own metropolitan water plan and expert advice that a plant need only be built if supply levels fell below 30%. It is little wonder that the Minister has stacked the deck in order to prevent this scrutiny,” Mr Martin said.

Sydney’s water supplies stand at 58%, almost double the trigger point for building a desalination plant.

The Tribunal has just begun reviewing public submissions and is due to hold public hearings in early December; however, TEC has labelled the Ministerial directive a serious assault on the independence of the pricing tribunal and a travesty of the IPART process.

“It makes a mockery of IPART’s independence and the price setting process if the government can effectively ensure it gets the outcome it wants. The public can have little confidence in the result of this review and can expect to pay a heavy price through their water bills in coming years,” Mr Martin said.