Day: July 29, 2020

LNP ANNOUNCE IRRIGATION WATER PRICING POLICY

Leader of the Opposition, Deb Frecklington, together with Member for Burdekin, Dale Last MP were in the Burdekin on Monday 27th July to jointly announce LNP’s water pricing policy. As a representative of the Burdekin’s key industry and given announcement will have a direct impact on our members, KCGO was invited to attend with your Chairman, Robert Malaponte representing our organisation.

Media release and Channel 7 news coverage of event is below.

https://www.facebook.com/7NEWSCairns/videos/1538345379671189/

LNP to slash water prices for Queensland farmers
Monday, July 27, 2020

Water prices paid by farmers will be slashed by almost 20% a year from 1 July 2021 in a major job-boosting election commitment by LNP Leader Deb Frecklington.

Ms Frecklington made the announcement in the Burdekin today as part of her economic plan to stimulate the economy and drag Queensland out of recession.

“A major part of the LNP’s plan to supercharge the regions and unleash industry is through new dams and water infrastructure,” Ms Frecklington said.

“Today we complement our bold dam building plan by slashing water costs for farmers.

“Cheaper water means more secure regional jobs and a near 20% reduction in water costs is a major job-creator for regional Queensland.

“I want Queensland to be Australia’s food bowl and cheaper water costs will be a
catalyst for that.”

Ms Frecklington said the LNP will implement recommendations from the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) to reduce water costs by transitioning SunWater to a regulated asset-based (RAB) approach for financing asset renewals.

The RAB approach recovers costs from customers as incurred yearly rather than attempting to estimate the replacement cost of an asset at the end of its life.

By adopting the QCA’s recommendation to modernise the way Sunwater calculates its asset renewal allowances, as has been done in other states, Sunwater will be more efficient and adopt new technologies. read more