Member for Myall Lakes, Tanya Thompson said the NSW Labor Government has
failed to protect regional water assets after passing legislation to enshrine Sydney
Water Corporation and Hunter Water Corporation in the NSW Constitution.
“The Constitution Amendment (Sydney Water and Hunter Water) Bill 2023 ignores
one third of our states population and does nothing to ensure regional water assets
are afforded the same level of protection as those in Sydney,” Mrs Thompson said.
“If Labor’s objective for the Bill is to protect water assets from privatisation, then this
Bill falls severely short.
“It’s hurried policy simply designed to suit the Labor Government’s political purposes.”
NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders said changing the constitution to recognise
Sydney water and Hunter water utilities and not regional water assets is blatantly
unfair.
“Whatever the intent of this legislation started as it has finished by dividing our state
based on what post code we live in,” Mr Saunders said.
“People in regional NSW deserve to know that no matter where they live they will be
treated equally by this government – unfortunately that is not the case.
“The NSW Nationals will bring a new Bill into Parliament as soon as possible to level
the playing field and protect our regional water utilities,” he said.
Shadow Minister for Water Steph Cooke said the Bill falls desperately short in
protecting water assets outside of Sydney Water and Hunter Water.
“This Bill discriminates against the 1.85 million people who obtain their water from
water utilities other than Sydney Water and Hunter Water,” Ms Cooke said.
“By focusing on Greater Sydney, the Lower Hunter, Illawarra and Blue Mountains and
failing to acknowledge the rest of the state, this Bill raises serious questions about the
future security of WaterNSW and all the local water utilities across regional, rural and
remote NSW.”
“If Labor was truly serious about protecting end-to-end water supply in New South
Wales, it would have supported our proposed amendments and not excluded one third
of our State’s population, simply because of the location of their water meter.”
