{"id":232415,"date":"2019-04-04T21:40:16","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T11:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=232415"},"modified":"2020-06-29T11:35:38","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T01:35:38","slug":"steep-rise-in-water-costs-forecast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/04\/04\/steep-rise-in-water-costs-forecast\/","title":{"rendered":"Steep Rise In Water Costs Forecast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Shadow Natural Resources Minister Dale Last<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 4, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The LNP has warned that Queensland farmers face substantial price rises for water if a move towards “cost-reflective” pricing is adopted.<\/p>\n

Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington said a projected increase in the Barker-Barambah scheme was “completely unacceptable and out of touch with the real world”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a proposed increase in water prices from $30\/ML to $74\/ML and this is simply unaffordable for our Barker-Barambah irrigators,” she said.<\/p>\n

“If these increases go ahead, many irrigators will have to cease production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shadow Minister for Natural Resources Dale Last highlighted a submission from the Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) to the Queensland Competition Authority review in water pricing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The QFF used State-owned Sunwater’s own ‘cost-reflective’ numbers to identify significant price increases for farmers already struggling under the burden of high water and electricity prices,” Mr Last said.<\/p>\n

“The projected price increases we are seeing for some irrigation schemes are unacceptable and should be of major concern to farmers and the communities that rely on them.<\/p>\n

“If the Labor Government wants to move to ‘cost-reflective’ pricing for water then it has a lot more work to do to ensure SunWater is providing value for money to its rural customers.”<\/p>\n

Mr Last said ‘cost-reflective’ pricing would effectively kill numerous irrigation schemes in regional Queensland.<\/p>\n

“These price increases have real world impacts on our rural and regional communities,” he said.<\/p>\n

QFF identified the following SunWater cost blowouts:<\/strong><\/p>\n