Wednesday, 19 February 2025

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:03): (1422) My matter is for the Minister for Water tonight, and it concerns a series of important projects: the Hobsons Bay main upgrade project, the UAMTEC work agreement with Melbourne Water and its contracts and the Church Street stormwater drain rehabilitation. Here is a case where Melbourne Water has responsibility for our drainage and sewerage system, and indeed the drainage and sewerage system has decayed over the years. I know the Auditor-General did a significant report in the middle 2000s pointing out the problems with the deterioration in the system, some of it going back 100 years and more. You cannot have a large city growing without maintaining your drains and your sewer, and you cannot do that without putting the money and resources in. Melbourne Water has been the subject of massive depredations by this government as it drags out dividends, it drags out capital reprioritisations – billions of dollars sucked out of Melbourne Water. People pay large water rates, but the money is being sucked out the other side by the state government. This task of maintaining the drains and repairing them and ensuring the stormwater and sewerage systems are in good order is a basic task. There have been a number of brick collapses, for example, in the Hobsons Bay main upgrade project; deficiencies in the GeoKrete lining of the Church Street stormwater drain rehabilitation – some areas had as little as 13 millimetres of concrete instead of the required 40 millimetres; and surface drains and groundwater reliefs being sealed over with GeoKrete at Church Street.

Contractors doing work for Melbourne Water – that is what they need to do, and there are groups that are checking that work using modern technology, sending down video surveillance and using video ability to check these drains and actually make sure that the work has been done to the standard and quality that is required. Sadly, a number of these groups were sacked by Melbourne Water because they came forward and said that the work had not been done to standard. There are massive problems in the drains, and who do you sack? Not the contractor firm that has done the work –

Nick McGowan interjected.

David DAVIS: but the whistleblower, that is exactly right. It is the whistleblower that has been shot by Melbourne Water.

Georgie Crozier interjected.

David DAVIS: That is right, it is a vindictive government. It is a government that goes after the people who are blowing the whistle. So I say: will the minister please investigate what has gone on here? UAMTEC, the company that blew the whistle, is the one that is being shot, and we need to understand why the minister and the officials are supporting the people who have done the wrong thing.