MEDIA RELEASE

National public water-rights advocacy group, Fair Water Use, welcomes the statement from federal coalition water spokesperson, Senator Barnaby Joyce, that he is willing to debate water policy with Senator Penny Wong.

National coordinator of Fair Water Use, Ian Douglas, has responded to the announcement saying, “The current lack of water policy statements from all parties reflects poorly on those seeking to be responsible for our water resources in little more than a fortnight”.

He continued, “Australians are increasingly aware of the need for protection and careful management of their water – much threatened by the policies of successive administrations; a vital topic, demanding rational debate rather than finger-pointing”.

“There is increasing objection in the electorate to the ongoing process of privatisation of Australian water; an agenda which no major party has yet had the honesty to put forward as official policy during any election, state or federal. This issue must be brought into the open for discussion before this federal election”, Dr Douglas concluded.

Fair Water Use (Australia) has contacted the three major parties, requesting that they clearly enunciate their position on water privatisation prior to the upcoming federal ballot.

Initially seen by governments as a cheap means of providing and operating water utilities, privatisation has proved an abject failure in most parts of the world where it has been implemented – leading to dramatic escalation in charges, poor service and a fixation on unnecessary, inefficient and environmentally destructive infrastructure development; reaping huge profits for private water corporations at the expense of the general public.

An increasing number of countries are extracting themselves from contracts with water companies, returning control of water supplies to public authorities.
 
However Australian governments seem oblivious to this trend and continue to pursue a process of privatisation by stealth: encouraging management of water as a commodity rather than a common “good”, leaving it exposed to international market forces rather than protected for future generations of Australians. The social inequity and allegations of corrupt corporate practice, which plagued this process overseas, are now being mirrored in this country.

The major parties must now indicate their stance on water privatisation - Australians deserve no less.