[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_W&S Corporations Facing Cash Crisis_T Morris MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

W & S CORPORATIONS HEADED FOR CASH CRISIS OVER CONCESSIONS

Tim Morris MP
Greens Water and Local Government Spokesperson

Thursday, 13 August 2009
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today called on Treasurer Michael Aird and the
Bartlett Government to accept responsibility for funding 100 percent of
concessions for the new Water and Sewerage Corporations, or face a
serious cash crisis in the new Corporations which are currently unable
to send out accounts until the government agrees to pay for concessions
and amends the relevant legislation which is stranded in the Legislative
Council.

Greens Water and Local Government spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that
the new Corporations have already been operating for six weeks without
any income and are reliant on receiving cash from customer payments by
no later than the end of August this year, but the Bartlett Government
is still dithering over its failed attempt at transferring the cost of
concession payments onto local government.

Mr Morris also said that the Tasmanian Greens opposed the Bartlett
Government's concessions legislation when it came before the House of
Assembly on May 21 this year, due to the attempt to shift the concession
cost onto Councils, but the Bartlett Government (with the support of the
Liberal Opposition) voted the legislation through anyway, only to see it
stall in the Legislative Council where it remains to this day.

"Treasurer Aird has bungled the Water and Sewerage reform process
terribly, and he will need to do some very fancy footwork if he is to
avert a serious cash crisis in the three new Water and Sewerage
Corporations in coming weeks," said Mr Morris.

"This pending cash crisis in the new Water and Sewerage Corporations is
entirely one of the Treasurer's own making. If he had not tried to
blatantly shift the cost of the concessions onto Councils then the new
Water and Sewerage accounts would be with householders now, and the cash
would be flowing into the Corporation's coffers." 

"Concessions have always been a State Government responsibility and they
should stay that way."

"Even if the Treasurer comes to his senses and announces that the
Bartlett Government will now accept responsibility for the cost of
concessions, it will be difficult for the Corporations to offer these
concessions without the legislation to back them up, something that
cannot happen before the end of this month due to the Parliamentary
sitting schedule."

"There is a high likelihood that the new Water and Sewerage corporations
will now have to borrow more money to cover the inflating gap between
the foreshadowed arrival of their first payments from customers, and the
actual date that customers will now be paying their bills."   

"The Treasurer's pig-headed approach to the issue of concessions has
placed the new Water and Sewerage Corporations at serious financial
risk, and it is time Mr Aird put an end to this appalling attempt to
shift the cost of concessions onto local government," said Mr Morris.




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