The state government’s disputed claim it could fix TasWater’s ailing infrastructure in five years after its planned takeover has been vindicated by Infrastructure Tasmania.
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Opponents of the government’s plan to take over the council-owned water and sewerage authority from July 1 next year have argued the government’s ambitious timeframe is not achievable or would be overly costly.
Infrastructure Tasmania’s report on the accelerated infrastructure improvement plan found it was deliverable provided adequate funding and resources were made available and a suitable delivery model was put in place.
The Infrastructure Tasmania report was peer reviewed by engineering firm pitt&sherry.
It said it believed, given the limited data available, Infrastructure Tasmania’s approach to investigate options to condense TasWater’s 10-year plan into seven years (TasWater is already some way into the plan) was reasonable.
“The amount of expenditure in the condensed plan is substantial in the latter years, but we believe that it is achievable under a collaborative approach by the entire Tasmanian water industry sector,” pitt&sherry said.
Treasurer and Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein said the government wanted to fix Tasmania’s “failing” water and sewerage infrastructure, keep prices down and improve services.
“One of the key components of our plan is accelerating TasWater’s 10-year infrastructure program, and completing it within five years of taking over the business,” Mr Gutwein said.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said: “What we’ve got here is a report that’s been commissioned by the government of its government agency that tells it what it wants to hear.”
“It feels a little bit like an episode out of Yes Minister to be honest.”
TasWater deputy chief owner representative Tony Bisdee said it was pleasing to finally have a bit more detail.
“We note there are a number of very broad underlying assumptions in the Infrastructure Tasmania report, including no financial constraints.”
“We would still like to see the government’s legal advice, as advice provided to TasWater, which has been publicly released, suggests the government does not have a legal basis for a takeover.”
