Water and Sewerage Costs

To the Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly: The petition of the undersigned Citizens of Tasmania draws the attention of the House to the excessive water and sewerage cost burden impacting Tasmanian businesses and families. Water and sewerage costs are continuing to increase year by year, placing significant financial pressure on small business, through excessive trade-waste and equivalent tenement charges and on families. These rising costs threaten the long-term viability of small business, reduce job creation and cause hardship for Tasmanian families. The Tasmanian Treasurer, Hon Peter Gutwein MP, has called on TasWater to borrow $1 Billion to fund future capital works. If the costs of this loan are passed on to Tasmanians through further increases to our water and sewerage bills, it will cause genuine hardship to many businesses and families. Your Petitioners can no longer sustain current water and sewerage costs and we therefore request the House to: a) Call upon the Tasmanian Government to support Tasmanian businesses and families to reduce water and sewerage charges; b) Lobby the Federal Government for capital funding to alleviate the water and sewerage cost burden on Tasmanian businesses and households; and c) Lobby the Economic Regulator on behalf of all Tasmanians to ensure their actions do not trigger any additional increases in water and sewerage charges and that this service is made more affordable.