Opposition slams government over water bills
The number of Western Australians needing help to pay their water bills has blown out by more than 700 per cent in the past year.
Opposition water spokesman Fran Logan stated rising water rates had forced 306 people to apply for assistance – under the state’s Hardship Utility Grant Scheme – to pay their bills last financial year.
That compared to just 38 people in 2009-10.
The number of people taken to court for not paying their bills also jumped 35 per cent to more than 2500, up from 1869 the year before.
This was on top of a 15 per cent increase in those seeking to defer their payments from 73,151 to 84,084.
Water, drainage and sewerage charges have risen 29 per cent in WA in the past three years.
“Premier Colin Barnett should be ashamed of these figures,” Mr Logan said.
“These people reflect the pain and hardship suffered by WA families which is a direct result of the increases to utility bills.
“WA is a rich say and people are getting no benefits from the resources boom.”
Mr Logan stated the WA government should provide more assistance to those having trouble paying their water bills.
“A 35 per cent increase in the number of people facing legal action and making them feel like criminals over water bills is an absolute outrage,” he said.
Mr Barnett stated on Friday he understood there was a lot of pressure on household costs, especially for young families.
He told ABC Radio the reason for increases in the price of water was that WA was increasingly relying on desalinated water, which was far more costly than water from dams.
That was a consequence of climate change and reduced rainfall and runoff into dams over the last 20 years, the premier said.
“There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Mr Barnett stated the government still heavily subsidised water supply but a significant part was also borne by users.
“You can’t have water for nothing,” he said.
source : www.wabusinessnews.com.au
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Submited at Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 10:00 pm on Business by samantha
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