TasWater’S local government owners have agreed to freeze dividends for the next decade if the state and federal governments agree to contribute $400 million for a $1.8 billion of sewerage and infrastructure upgrade program.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The decision was made in a meeting of TasWater’s owner representatives on Thursday, and is expected to save TasWater about $82 million over 10 years.
Major upgrades are required for non-conforming sewerage treatment plants in the state, as well as to provide treated water supplies to some settlements that are currently subject to permanent boil water alerts or do not consume notices.
Only one of the state’s 79 regulated sewerage treatment plants achieved 100 percent compliance with regulatory discharge limits in 2014-15.
Chief owners representative David Downie said he believed the dividend freeze would be a “fairly hefty” contribution to the infrastructure upgrades plan.
“We’ve done our part, and now we will ask the state government and then the federal government to help us deliver the infrastructure improvements that are required,” Cr Downie said.
“The (state) Treasurer’s message has been quite clear, it is up to the local councils to make the first step which we have done today, we’ve been through a very democratic process.
“We’ve made the commitment now, it would be great if we’re able to get a commitment from the federal government while we’re in this election process, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
Local Government Association of Tasmania president Doug Chipman said the decision had been tough on Tasmania’s 29 councils because it would impact their budgets.
“Overall they wanted to do this because they believe all Tasmanians should have fresh healthy drinking water,” he said.
“Local government has now taken the first step. We’ve put our shoulder to the wheel and we now hope that the state and federal governments can follow up.”
