Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Treasurer

Monday 7th June 2010

Future Prices for Water and Sewerage - Who Knows? The Treasurer Does!

According to the Economic Regulators web site the Treasurer received the Regulators report on the review of the Water and Sewerage Interim Pricing Order on the 27th of April 2010.

That was nearly 7 weeks ago and as yet the Treasurer has revealed no details of the report. This is concerning because the report details how much Tasmanians will pay for water and sewerage from 1 July 2010.

According to the Terms of Reference on the Regulator's website, the report which the Treasurer is keeping secret, also discusses removing any 'free water allowances' that households may currently receive before they are charged for their volumetric usage.

So not only will those households with existing water meters pay 5% more for water and sewerage, based on their current bill, they may also have to start paying for water that they used to get for free.

This report will detail what the future pricing structure of water and sewerage services will be and every Tasmanian needs to know what is in store for them at the earliest opportunity.

The Treasurer must release this report immediately so that Tasmanians can see exactly how much they will be paying for water and sewerage services from 1 July 2010. The Government has kept other reports that dealt with pricing secret in the past and they must not continue with this disgraceful tactic.