Thursday, 31 October 2024

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): (717) My question is to the Minister for Water. Minister, with your housing hat on –

Harriet Shing interjected.

David DAVIS: Well, you have got two hats. But I am saying with your housing hat on, you are responsible for setting ambitious housing targets for municipalities across Victoria, including regional Victoria. However, a report on the ABC’s Stateline on the weekend pointed to failings in your water portfolio that are severely hampering new housing development in regional Victoria due to your water authorities providing insufficient water and sewerage infrastructure. I therefore say, with developers reported as saying they could build thousands of new homes in regional Victoria but water infrastructure is not available, isn’t it a fact your failings in the water portfolio are undercutting your housing targets?

The PRESIDENT: I will take that as a question for the Minister for Water.

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:02): Thanks, Mr Davis. It is always good to see your dexterity in play as it relates to the asking of questions, and to that end I do see the synergies between the water portfolio and the housing portfolio as it relates to the delivery of infrastructure and programs.

I would like very much to be able to provide some detail on this, particularly given, as you have rightly pointed out, the aspirations of rural and regional communities to be able to see development facilitated. As you rightly point out, there has been extensive discussion of these matters in recent weeks around in particular the work of Alpine shire buildings, the proposed development that North East Water is part of and the way in which planned infrastructure projects have been determined, particularly around the prioritisation of opportunities and the flexibility needed for North East Water in adapting to changing circumstances.

There is infrastructure – and, Mr Davis, this might help you in relation to your question and the coverage which this subject matter has received – serving Mount Beauty, Tawonga and Tawonga South; that has reached capacity, and that has prompted significant investment in upgrades. That includes major water and sewerage connections and replacements across the community and the construction of a $4 million raw sewage water offtake system. That is set to begin later this year. We are also seeing the design of a new potable water storage tank to support additional water connections. That is expected to be operational in 2027–28, and there is preliminary design that has started on upgrading the community’s wastewater treatment plant alongside a new sewage pumping station, which is anticipated to be complete in 2028.

Mr Davis, for avoidance of any doubt around the work that water corporations are doing, I do want to make it clear that water authorities, including North East Water, and the work across our catchment management authorities have been very clearly attuned to the needs of growing communities, including as that relates to the forecast costs for infrastructure and for capital investment over pricing periods. We have seen investments across Rutherglen with the scheme – around $12 million of investment. We have seen more than $100 million in Wodonga, with capital infrastructure over the next five years, and there is $79 million across Wodonga for a treatment plant, with $11.6 million in the Wodonga sewage pipeline and associated works. We need to make sure that we are taking account of what future growth and projections look like. The catchment management authorities have been engaging with communities, and that is the sort of work which they are calling for to be done with input from the community. That includes work with local councils and with people who are proposing to develop and to accommodate that expansion. We do want to see our regional communities thrive, and essential and trunk infrastructure is a big part of that work.

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (12:05): I have listened very closely to what the minister has said, and that has drawn me back to a comment made by Guy Wilson-Browne from North East Water. He is the planning and infrastructure general manager, and he is reported as saying more state government support is needed to keep up with demand. So I ask: will you provide the additional required support to water corporations? If so, when? And if not, why not?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:05): Thank you, Mr Davis, for quoting the representative from North East Water, the general manager of water and water infrastructure, Guy Wilson-Browne, who will be delighted to see his name in Hansard on two occasions in one question time. We do know, in particular for the purpose of your question, that ageing water infrastructure across the three towns in question has reached capacity, and this follows the authority indicating support for the Alpine Shire Council for a proposed 82-lot development in Tawonga South. Again, this is a process that aligns with the pricing processes undertaken by the independent Essential Services Commission. Water pricing is guided by a range of considerations, including forward projections on modelling and on growth, and North East Water has encouraged anyone planning to put forward a development application in these regions to have a conversation with them first so that they can continue to investigate short-term improvements over the next 12 months. Again, they are words directly from Mr Wilson-Browne’s mouth.

The PRESIDENT: I acknowledge a previous member of this chamber Marg Lewis in the gallery.