Water Industry (Third Party Access) Amendment Bill
26/03/2015
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Like previous speakers, I speak today, on behalf of Dignity for Disability, with some serious concerns about the Water Industry (Third Party Access) Amendment Bill. Dignity for Disability does appreciate that Ms Roanna McClelland from the minister’s office arranged a briefing for my adviser to help allay some of these concerns, but we remain concerned that the questions we asked during that briefing regarding risks to increase prices for consumers have not been adequately answered by the minister despite promises that this clarity would be provided this very week.
At present, the South Australian Council of Social Services has raised a number of concerns which need to be addressed before this bill should be allowed to proceed. What exactly is open to third party pricing, what occurs with community service orders and whether this could result in consumers being left—
The ACTING PRESIDENT ( Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins ): Order! The Hon. Ms Vincent is battling against a number of conversations, and I would ask that those be removed from the chamber. I call the Hon. Ms Vincent.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I thank you for your protection, sir. I will begin that sentence again. At present, SACOSS has raised a number of concerns which need to be addressed before this bill should be allowed to proceed. Some of these questions include: what exactly is open to third party pricing under this bill, what occurs with community service orders and whether this could result in consumers being left with additional costs in the long term. I appreciate that some of these questions have already been put on the record by the Hon. Ms Franks, and we certainly look forward to receiving answers to those and the other questions that Ms Franks has raised as well.
At this point, Dignity for Disability cannot support the second reading of this bill.
The ACTING PRESIDENT ( Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins ): Order! There is too much noise in the chamber. I call the Hon. Ms Vincent.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: Thank you, Mr President. At this stage, Dignity for Disability cannot support the second reading of this bill in its current form. We look forward to the government coming back with some amendments to provide more clarification around this bill and also to provide more transparency about exactly how the new arrangements will be implemented. It may well be that we can support this bill in future with that level of transparency and clarity provided, but at this stage we cannot do so.
