If, as expected, the University of Tasmania’s Inveresk relocation project goes ahead, the focus for the North will quickly turn to major water and sewerage infrastructure upgrades.
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On Thursday, the Australian Water Association called on the state and federal governments to jointly assist TasWater to fund the required upgrades across the state.
In the North, that would equate to a much-needed, new secondary treatment plant. Alternatively in the South, there has been a call for a similar plant to the north of the CBD at Macquarie Point. This comes with a price tag of $70 million.
With that at the northern plant, there will be some serious capital required to bring both projects to reality.
These projects, along with a number of others on a water and sewerage infrastructure wishlist, are expected to cost the state in the vicinity of $1.8 billion. It’s inconceivable that either TasWater or the state government could fund these projects.
It’s more conceivable that with assistance from Infrastructure Australia, TasWater could make the bold step of borrowing the funding to complete all the works.
As a public utility, TasWater has one of the lowest debts in the nation. It also has an impressive list of assets. And it receives steady streams of income courtesy of water rate payers, which means it has the capacity to pay a loan back. Throw in record low interest rates and you have the perfect recipe for the company to borrow the money and simply build those major pieces of infrastructure in Launceston and at Macquarie Point itself.
Many of the major councils around the state have already indicated a willingness to forgo their regular dividends to enable the water and sewerage authority’s 10-year capital expenditure program to go ahead.
Last week, Brighton Council joined the growing call for action. Mayor Tony Foster joined AWA in calling for $400 million from state and federal governments to help pay for the planned 10-year infrastructure spend.
He said $82 million from the freeze on distributions would bring the funding shortfall to about $1.2 billion, which could be funded from TasWater’s own resources.
On paper, at least, it’s highly achievable. Thankfully most of the councils have been quick to see beyond their own short-term needs – much to their credit – and can see the bigger picture.
All that’s required now is the determination to make it happen.
