[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Aird Admits Tenants W&S Charge Unfair_T Morris MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

TREASURER FINALLY ADMITS TENANTS WILL BE DISADVANTAGED BY W&S CHARGE

Aird Must Not Impose Unfair Charge on Tenants
  
Tim Morris MP
Greens Infrastructure Spokesperson

Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today forced an admission from Treasurer Michael
Aird that under current proposals tenants will be disadvantaged by the
Bartlett Government's water and sewerage reform process, and called on
Mr Aird to ensure that tenants are required to pay for their consumption
of water only, while the charges related to water and sewerage
infrastructure remain payable by the property owner.

Greens Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MP said the Greens were
the first to realise that the Bartlett Government was intending to shift
the responsibility for all water and sewerage charges from owners onto
tenants, and are now maintaining their position that tenants must not be
financially disadvantaged by these changes. 

"Treasurer Aird has finally admitted that his decision to shift the
water and sewerage service charge from owners onto tenants will
financially damage people who are already doing it tough," said Mr
Morris.

"The Greens identified this unfair new charge on tenants in May this
year, its just a shame that the Treasurer didn't realise the
ramifications of his own changes when he dismissed our concerns at the
time. He must now guarantee that tenants will not be financially
disadvantaged by his water and sewerage changes."  

"The Treasurer has been caught-out cost-shifting again, and he must now
move to ensure that tenants pay only for the water that they use, and
that property owners continue to pay all charges related to the water
and sewerage infrastructure," said Mr Morris.


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Below: Question from Greens MP Tim Morris to the Treasurer Michael Aird
in Parliamentary Question Time today, 18 August 2009:

Minister, despite you having been forced to address the serious
concessions issue in your bungled Water and Sewerage reforms, there
remains another outstanding major matter of concern which is your
attempt to shift unfairly the fixed costs of the water and sewerage
connections from property owners to tenants.

Minister, is it not a fact that it is the property owner who benefits
from the connections, and does that not make it grossly unfair for you
to push the fixed costs onto tenants?

Will you now abandon the attempt to impose the fixed cost component of
the water and sewerage accounts onto tenants, and if not will you detail
to this House how you intend to compensate tenants for your unfair
proposal when these charges are already factored into the rent they pay?




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