The high cost of water is going to break the back of family finances. People must have water and even if you don't want it and town water comes to your fence line you will be charged for it. It is infrastructure that everyone must pay for whether you can pay for it or not. If you pay rent then the extra cost will soon be passed on to you.
What is quite surprising though is the reason why water costs so much. A high population you say. Well, if that is the case then why has the cost been reasonable per head over the last 200 years? Why does it cost so much per individual now? Dams have been built in the past that sustained supply. The building of dams in Queensland has stalled. In the 1980s 20 were constructed, in the 1990s 15. Over the last 10 years only two have been put into service. Other states have an even worse record.
The truth is Queensland is not short of water. New desalination plants will not be needed until 2017. Did the piping of water from the Sunshine Coast down south cost that much? It didn't cost very much actually. But overall, the panic investment in water was overinvestment. It is a problem caused by the Labor Government. Anna Bligh was at the helm and she gave the "yes" to go ahead. The price of bulk water will rise from $683 a megaliter to a whopping $2,755 in 2017. Councils have subsidized water in the past. But the new water bodies are under State control and Councils are taking the opportunity to grab some money by not reducing rates by the full amount of the now defunct water charge.
What is quite surprising though is the reason why water costs so much. A high population you say. Well, if that is the case then why has the cost been reasonable per head over the last 200 years? Why does it cost so much per individual now? Dams have been built in the past that sustained supply. The building of dams in Queensland has stalled. In the 1980s 20 were constructed, in the 1990s 15. Over the last 10 years only two have been put into service. Other states have an even worse record.
The truth is Queensland is not short of water. New desalination plants will not be needed until 2017. Did the piping of water from the Sunshine Coast down south cost that much? It didn't cost very much actually. But overall, the panic investment in water was overinvestment. It is a problem caused by the Labor Government. Anna Bligh was at the helm and she gave the "yes" to go ahead. The price of bulk water will rise from $683 a megaliter to a whopping $2,755 in 2017. Councils have subsidized water in the past. But the new water bodies are under State control and Councils are taking the opportunity to grab some money by not reducing rates by the full amount of the now defunct water charge.
