Water Bills Will Be Higher Under The Coalition
Posted November 14th, 2010 Comments (0) | Share | tags: Water
Water bills will be higher under a Ted Baillieu and Peter Ryan Government as a result of the Coalition’s pledge to not take water from the north-south pipeline and instead spend money on new water projects.
Water Minister Tim Holding said Mr Baillieu would force Melbourne households to spend more money on new water projects, while the pipeline lies idle.
“Melbourne’s water bills are the lowest of any capital city – if Mr Baillieu is elected Premier this would be under threat,” Mr Holding said.
“Why would Mr Baillieu want to slug Victorian families for new water projects when he is leaving a project that has already been paid for unused?
“It is less than two weeks until the election and Mr Baillieu has failed to tell Victorians what his water policy is – what does he have to hide?”
Mr Holding said Mr Baillieu’s pledge to close the north-south pipeline had been clearly dictated to him by his Coalition partners, the Nationals.
“The only water policy the National Party has ever had is to build dams,” he said.
Mr Holding said Mr Baillieu’s claims that the water projects were never needed is complete hypocrisy as he promised a dam and desalination plant at the last election.
“Will Mr Baillieu rule out building a new dam in Victoria?”
Mr Holding said the Brumby Labor Government has put in place water projects right across the State which has seen water restrictions eased and is providing much needed additional water to farmers and stressed rivers.
“Melbourne households are paying for some of the irrigation upgrades in northern Victoria and in return will get part of the water savings,” he said.