“Likely the biggest political confidence trick attempted in Tasmania in living memory.”
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That‘s the opinion of Northern Midlands Mayor David Downie on the state government’s effort to remove TasWater from local government ownership.
The government has said if it owned TasWater, it would result in cheaper water and sewerage bills and would speed up infrastructure upgrades.
But most of the state’s 29 councils have strongly resisted any takeover bid, and have banded together to fight the state government.
Mr Downie, TasWater’s Chief Owners’ Representative, said the government had no engineering plans and no financial modelling to support its takeover bid.
He said there were even serious legal doubts about the state’s ability to seize the business.
However State Treasurer Peter Gutwein has been reported as saying the government had received advice from the Solicitor-General and the state’s economic regulator.
“We have advice that says what we want to do is lawful,” he said.
But Mr Downie said Mr Gutwein had offered councils only six cents in the dollar for an asset that he valued at $3 billion.
“This is an asset that has been built up and paid for by ratepayers,” he said. “They are offering miserable compensation to the owner councils. They are conning the community.
“While Mr Gutwein criticises the Local Government Association of Tasmania for asking councils to contribute to its campaign to ward off his potentially illegal bid, he has no qualms spending taxpayer dollars on statewide press and radio advertisements to push his own agenda,” he said.
“At least councils have a choice to contribute to the campaign, unlike taxpayers who have no say in what Mr Gutwein spends their money on,” he said.
The association has asked councils for $200,000 to help fight the government’s planned takeover, with each council asked to put one per cent of their annual TasWater dividends into a fund.
“The owner councils have a responsibility to protect (the asset), and the small amount they may or may not contribute to a campaign of opposition is insignificant when compared to the value of the TasWater asset,” said Mr Downie.
“The overwhelming majority of councils are not swayed by his confidence tricks and through the proposed LGAT information campaign, the Tasmanian community will very quickly become aware of his deficiencies as well as those of his takeover bid,” Mr Downie said.
Six councils have so far opposed a push for the local government association to fight the takeover.