Page 841 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 16 June 1992
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for dropping the allowance to 350 kilolitres, which is comparable to New South Wales, and indeed comparable to Queanbeyan. I find it curious that Mr Moore, who often stresses his environmental concern and his green aspect, says apparently that we should have unlimited access to free water. That is a very short-sighted and irresponsible proposition.
I noted with interest that Mr Kaine said, and repeated on a number of occasions, that any organisation is entitled to recover its costs, that organisations should be able to recover the cost of providing a service. I take it from that that Mr Kaine is fully supportive of the price increases in relation to water and sewerage. As Ms Szuty mentioned, for years electricity has cross-subsidised water and sewerage. Water has always operated at a subsidy in the ACT. These price increases, as well as sending a strong message to conserve water, in fact bring water to break-even point. So I presume from Mr Kaine's remarks that he would support the water charges.
The sewerage charges have also for years operated at a loss. This environmental audit is really a frontier document. We are getting interest from overseas authorities in the way we have done our audit of the Lower Molonglo. That plant has always been seen as a world leader in terms of environmental quality. We have faced up to our responsibilities over the next 20 years to maintain and improve upon that quality. Nothing is surer than that the public perception of acceptable water quality will increase. We will need to meet stricter and stricter standards. We are facing up to our responsibility to provide that, and the sewerage costs will meet those increased demands and break even. They will not return any form of profit. So I presume that Mr Kaine supports the sewerage increases.
I also note that he says that we should identify it. That is exactly what we have done. We have not said that we are increasing the sewerage rates generally. We are saying that we are imposing a $25 environmental works levy. So we are identifying that amount. We are saying that that is to go into a process over the next 20 years to upgrade our environmental infrastructure in relation to our responsibilities as Australia's largest inland city, sitting astride the Murray-Darling Basin.
Really what we have done there is meet Mr Kaine's remarks on virtually all points. I presume that the motion Mr Westende has moved, if we read it down to what Mr Kaine is saying, is really only criticising electricity. Mr Westende says that we should have CPI for everything, so he is against the water increases and against the sewerage increases. Mr Kaine says that authorities should recover their costs, so he is in favour of the sewerage increases and in favour of the water increases. This is, again, the ACT Liberal Party as we know and love them: One member saying one thing, one member saying another.
Mr Kaine: Some of us are more generous than others.
MR CONNOLLY: Indeed, Mr Kaine, and some of you have more experience in these matters, and that is probably why your remarks are more apposite. That brings us back to the electricity price increase. Electricity prices have gone up by about 5 per cent; that is above the CPI. There is a factor there of New South Wales oncosts. We have to pass on our oncosts, and we have had an increase beyond the CPI in our oncosts. This is not designed to increase a dividend; it is designed to maintain a dividend. I think it is appropriate that an electricity authority return a dividend to the community.
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