In support of Irrigators in our region, I will advocate for- • A Fairer balance between environmental and irrigation water distribution. • A Change structure of water authorities to ensure fairness and better representation for growers. • And a State review into water pricing. Setting water prices an exhausting business Victoria has a statutory authority called the Essential Services Commission, which holds many rounds of public hearings before setting commercial prices for years in advance. It spends a lot of time setting the price because it is important to so many people. Authorities need to fairly set charges to maintain public assets and customers need to still be able to afford them. It is a delicate balance. A change in public policy, in this case the removal of the carbon tax, was flagged early by the Federal Government. Jim Belbin, the well regarded chairman of the now defunct First Mildura Irrigation Trust, has been highly critical of today’s authorities for not reacting more quickly to the policy change. Mr Belbin has attacked Lower Murray Water in Sunraysia, which has the largest number of pumped irrigators with the most to gain, for not reacting more quickly. He says it adds further pressure to growers already facing financial disaster from low fruit prices to issue water bills it knows to be technically incorrect. Mr Belbin claims it is price gouging. LMW says it is still waiting for advice from its power suppliers, but has held out the promise of “credit adjustments” in the next lot of bills. Beyond setting a maximum price, the ESC still has a major part to play in all this. It says it has written to the water authorities asking for details on how they will pass on the lower prices. The ESC must act as the police on this, and ensure every cent of savings is immediately passed back to the irrigators, and the results made public. Mr Belbin is right. Action has been too slow. weeklytimesnow.au/news/opinion/setting-water-prices-an-exhausting-business/story-fnkerdb0-1227045026569
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:31:10 +0000
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