Thursday, 31 July 2025

Ministers statements: water corporations

Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:37): Victoria’s water corporations are at the forefront of innovation, and it was a pleasure to see this firsthand on Monday at the Intelligent Water Networks annual conference, where I officially launched the water minister’s climate innovation challenge at the State Library Victoria. This challenge encourages water professionals to develop bold forward-thinking solutions to climate change impacts in the sector. 2025 has been a very dry year for Victoria; in fact it has been the driest year this century. That is why the Allan Labor government has increased funding through the challenge this year to $280,000 to help bring forward real-world solutions. We know that we will have less precious drinking water in the future, and we want to be more efficient in how we store and move water around the state. Thankfully, we are getting smart ideas from our best and brightest minds in the water sector to turn obstacles into opportunities.

Last year’s winner, South East Water, is working in partnership with RMIT on a world-first project to use recycled water and solar to generate green hydrogen, and I am pleased that Victoria’s water corporations are on track to be powered with 100 per cent renewable energy by the end of the year. This is a critical step towards achieving net zero. All credit to the water corporations and their countless workers for making this happen. This government understands the value of and the economic imperative of achieving net zero emissions. Our water corporations are committed to ensuring that we will always have enough water, and they are implementing innovative, practical solutions that face up to the climate challenge. I look forward to announcing the recipients later this year.