Prime Minister, we have a water problem

A recent report by Allen Consulting, Urban Water: A Vision and Road map for National Progress, has recommended the privatisation or our urban water supplies “after discussions with a group of water industry and policy experts”.

Public private partnerships have already seen more than a quarter of Australia’s water supply and services pass into private hands. The Howard and Rudd governments have passed a raft of legislation paving the way towards full privatisation of water.

The separation of land and water titles and the unregulated growth of water trading have made a critical water shortage much worse. It is probably fair to say, ungoverned water traders are doing for water what unruly financial advisers did for the global economy early this year.

Australian’s have already had an opportunity to assess just what our future might be if we hand over control of water to large corporations.

Every single country that has opted for water privatisation has the same story to tell. The price of supply goes through the roof and the end user is treated with contempt. Saying the corporate solution will protect the environment is akin to convincing people the “free market” will support the poor.

The Big Pong in Adelaide (February 2003) and the Crypto Scare in Sydney (also in February 2003) were both caused by cost cutting measures to boost corporate profits. Subsequent inquiries revealed a total lack of due diligence and concern for end consumers.

The Big Pong revealed the approach of overseas water barons to the money making bonanza on offer down under. In response to a request to reveal financial details of the agreement United Water had made with the South Australian government the CEO quipped. “We’re not here because we love the state and we’ve got bleeding hearts, for Christ’s sake, we’re here to make money. We’re here to do business.”

A classic own goal for the private water trade if ever there was one.

Allen Consulting and their Global Access Partners state their vision for urban water privatisation promises “a secure level of water to meet society’s essential needs, society can have confidence in the quality of water, and that consumers (particularly the vulnerable) and the environment are appropriately protected.”

Australia already boasts a number of unenviable characteristics in relation to its present water governance. We are the driest continent on earth, we use more water per captia than most, and we are the place most susceptible to climate change. We have more federal and state utilities and departments with a say in water management than anywhere else on earth and we contribute more to climate change per capita than any other country. Alas, none of these go close to guaranteeing immunity from the disastrous consequences of water privatisation: which in every other part of the world have proven to be the precise reverse of providing for the vulnerable and the environment.

No corporation can hope to remain competitive by putting welfare of the vulnerable and the environment before its shareholders. It doesn’t require rocket science to conclude the stakes are way too high to allow the private sector to mess with a vital resource as precious as water.

It’s one thing for the banks to withhold interest rate cuts during a recession, but where will we stand when the corporations decide that the supply and demand rules applied to water in a drought: the less there is, the higher the cost to you and me?