Legislative Council
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Old Parliament House Chamber, Old Parliament House , Adelaide Monday, 29 March 2021 at 10:05am BY AUTHORITY OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL WITNESSES FLETCHER, ANDREW, Board Chair, SA Water .......................................................................... 1769 GORDGE, DAVE, Senior Manager, Government and Stakeholder Relations, SA Water ............ 1769 GUERIN, JACQUI, General Manager, Business Services, SA Water .......................................... 1769 JACKSON, ANNA, General Manager, Strategy, Engagement and Innovation, SA Water ........... 1769 PERCEVAULT, DARREN, Senior Manager, Finance, SA Water ................................................. 1769 ROWLANDS, KERRY, General Manager, Customer and Commercial, SA Water ...................... 1769 RYAN, DAVID, Chief Executive, SA Water ................................................................................... 1769 Monday, 29 March 2021 Legislative Council Page 1769 MEMBERS: Hon. K.J. Maher MLC (Chairperson) Hon. N.J. Centofanti MLC Hon. J.A. Darley MLC Hon. T.A. Franks MLC Hon. J.E. Hanson MLC Hon. F. Pangallo MLC Hon. D.W. Ridgway MLC Hon. C.M. Scriven MLC WITNESSES: RYAN, DAVID, Chief Executive, SA Water FLETCHER, ANDREW, Board Chair, SA Water GUERIN, JACQUI, General Manager, Business Services, SA Water JACKSON, ANNA, General Manager, Strategy, Engagement and Innovation, SA Water ROWLANDS, KERRY, General Manager, Customer and Commercial, SA Water PERCEVAULT, DARREN, Senior Manager, Finance, SA Water GORDGE, DAVE, Senior Manager, Government and Stakeholder Relations, SA Water 14844 The CHAIRPERSON: Good morning, Mr Ryan and Mr Fletcher. Welcome to this meeting. The Legislative Council has given authority for this committee to hold public meetings. However, due to the current situation concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, we are doing things a little differently than we have in the past. A transcript of your evidence today will be forwarded to you for examination for any clerical corrections. The uncorrected transcript of your evidence today will be published immediately upon receipt from Hansard, but the corrected transcript once received from you will replace the uncorrected one. I advise that your evidence today is being broadcast via the Parliament of South Australia website. Should at any time you wish to present confidential evidence, please indicate and the committee will consider your request. Parliamentary privilege is attached to all evidence presented to a select committee. However, witnesses should be aware that privilege does not extend to statements made outside this meeting. All persons, including members of the media, are reminded that the same rules apply as in the reporting of parliament. Before we get going I would like to acknowledge that in this chamber we meet on the lands of the Kaurna people and respect their traditional relationship with the country. I might quickly introduce the members of the committee. On my left, from the closest to you, are the Hon. Frank Pangallo, the Hon. Justin Hanson and the Hon. Clare Scriven. On my right, from the closest to you, are the Hon. Tammy Franks, the Hon. John Darley, the Hon. Nicola Centofanti, and soon to be here, the Hon. David Ridgway. I am Kyam Maher, the Chair of this committee. Mr Ryan, I wonder if you would like to introduce yourself and the folks you have with you and I will give you an opportunity to make a brief opening statement should you wish. Mr RYAN: Thank you very much, Chair. I will introduce first off Andrew Fletcher AO, Chair of the SA Water Board. We have Jacqui Guerin, our chief financial officer, who is also here today; Anna Jackson, our general manager of strategy, engagement and innovation; Kerry Rowlands, our general manager of customer and community; Darren Percevault, our senior manager of finance; and Dave Gordge, our senior manager of government and stakeholder relations. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Page 1770 Legislative Council Monday, 29 March 2021 14845 The CHAIRPERSON: Would you like to make a brief opening statement? Mr RYAN: Sure. Can I also start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands and waters upon which we meet today and pay my respects for their ongoing care and custodianship. Thank you for the opportunity to provide an opening statement. As you would be aware, SA Water provides safe, clean drinking water and reliable sewer services to more than 1.7 million South Australians. Every day we strive to live up to our vision of delivering trusted water services for a sustainable and healthy South Australia. It's safe to say that since SA Water last appeared before this committee in 2019 there have been some significant challenges to this goal. Certainly, despite the bushfires of the 2019-20 summer and the COVID-19 pandemic, SA Water has continued to deliver services while maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our people in the community. Indeed, our response to COVID-19 has really highlighted SA Water's resilience, flexibility and ability to innovate. As you may be aware, the delivery of water and wastewater services continued uninterrupted throughout stay-at-home orders and remote working arrangements. We have also developed and implemented a successful COVID-19 wastewater monitoring program in partnership with SA Health and Water Research Australia to help the public health effort. Our laboratories are now providing this expertise right across the whole country. After much planning and consultation in October last year, SA Water released its new strategy to guide our work and decisions to achieve our vision. While the strategy charts a direction over the course of the coming years, it also takes a long-term view towards 2020. Since we last appeared before the committee, we have finished one regulatory period and have now moved into the next. The 2016-20 regulatory period finished on 30 June and this saw SA Water consistently deliver on our commitments to customers. You will also be aware that in the new regulatory period we are applying a significantly changed approach in the way that water pricing is undertaken in South Australia. We continue to invest in the new capital projects and existing assets to continually improve services for our customers. We are improving the reliability and affordability of wastewater services for more than 12,000 people by migrating over 4,700 residents connected to the City of Tea Tree Gully's Community Wastewater Management System to our sewer networks. During periods of COVID restrictions, we continued to deliver our capital works program, helping our delivery partners and their supply chains to keep working. That's one of the things we have been incredibly proud of over the last 12 months, both in being able to provide services for our customers and equally in being able to support the economy and jobs through our delivery partners. We work closely with the Office of the Industry Advocate to ensure local companies have opportunities to participate in the delivery of major projects, such as the Adelaide Service Delivery Project. We are also building healthy communities through new and effective ways of using water to promote greening and cooler urban environments. We play a pivotal role in opening up reservoirs by managing the critical operations to optimise recreational use, whilst ensuring that drinking water supplies remain safe. Critically, this includes, in partnership with SA Health, applying a best practice water quality risk assessment process that ensures that the opening of reservoirs does not compromise the safety of drinking water. I am proud of many of these achievements and many more and our overall commitment to driving outcomes for all customers and for the state. I look forward to answering any questions you have on these and other initiatives today. Thank you, Chair. 14846 The CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much for your opening statement. Before we get to questions, I advise that we are a reasonably friendly and slightly informal committee. As we go around asking questions, if you have answered the question to the satisfaction of the person asking the question, often we will jump in and move on to the next question. It's not deliberately being rude, but with only two hours there's a lot to cover. I think you mentioned providing safe, clean drinking water to 1.7 million South Australians. How many South Australians do you provide unsafe, non-drinkable water to? BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Monday, 29 March 2021 Legislative Council Page 1771 Mr RYAN: We don't provide unsafe water. 14847 The CHAIRPERSON: The town of Oodnadatta, do they get provided safe drinking water? Mr RYAN: Can I just confer quickly. The town of Oodnadatta was the question. They do have water that is well known not to ingest or not to drink that water. We are in the process of upgrading that water through this regulatory period. 14848 The CHAIRPERSON: How much do residents pay for the water in Oodnadatta? Mr RYAN: Statewide price. 14849 The CHAIRPERSON: They pay the same, but can they even use it for brushing teeth, for example? Mr RYAN: No is the answer. It's well known and well communicated not to ingest that water. 14850 The CHAIRPERSON: They pay the same price as anywhere else, yet they can't even use it for brushing teeth. What water do residents of Oodnadatta use, for example, for brushing teeth, let alone drinking? Mr RYAN: There is a town supply, which is a desalinated option, and they can purchase water from there. 14851 The CHAIRPERSON: Is that included in that standard price they pay like everyone else in the state? Mr RYAN: No, it's not. This is really the purpose of why we are doing that upgrade. 14852 The CHAIRPERSON: So not every South Australian gets supplied safe, clean drinking water by SA Water if residents in Oodnadatta are paying $300 a year and they can't even brush their teeth with it? Mr RYAN: Which is the purpose of why we want to upgrade through this regulatory period.