Treasurer Peter Gutwein has once again come down hard on councils, this time saying slow infrastructure upgrades could lead to a dramatic rise in water bills.
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TasWater chief owner representative and Northern Midlands Mayor David Downie said that everyone needed to work together to fix the state’s water and sewerage problems and that the sector was underfunded.
Mr Gutwein said on Wednesday that he made no apologies for calling out the state’s water woes and demanding action.
Earlier this week, Mr Gutwein laid full blame on councils across the state for water and sewerage infrastructure not being up to scratch.
He has since called a crisis meeting with councils in Hobart on Friday.
Cr Downie said after talking to people in Canberra, he believed there could be a source of funding available.
“The great outcomes come when everyone works together,” Cr Downie said.
“We should be focusing on fixing the water problems in Tasmania and making them work on making it affordable for people.
“TasWater has a plan to fix so many of the assets, but it’s a 10-year plan and if you want to keep the price rises down further, then you’ve got to look at taking some of those projects out of the 10-year plan.”
On Tuesday, a petition was launched on the Tasmanian Liberals Facebook page calling on the community to “tell the councils that this just isn't good enough”.
“What has largely gone unremarked to date is that in order to deliver even the current unacceptably slow improvements, water and sewage prices are forecast to rise a staggering 30 per cent over the next six years,” Mr Gutwein said.
“At Friday's meeting I will be asking councils to justify this price rise, and explain how they think that Tasmanians should pay a 30 per cent increase for inferior services, while they continue to take massive dividends for themselves.
“This has nothing to do with council amalgamations because the government has already made its position clear – it does not support forced amalgamations.”
Opposition local government spokeswoman Madeleine Ogilvie said the government had manufactured the fight with councils.
“Instead of blaming local government for its own failures, the Liberal government should recognise that investing in infrastructure is a shared responsibility,” Ms Ogilvie said.
