{"id":241493,"date":"2019-08-09T20:33:19","date_gmt":"2019-08-09T10:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=241493"},"modified":"2020-07-18T15:00:35","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T05:00:35","slug":"mp-presses-case-for-irrigators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2019\/08\/09\/mp-presses-case-for-irrigators\/","title":{"rendered":"MP Presses Case For Irrigators"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Water levels in Bjelke-Petersen Dam are below 6 per cent because of the drought, which means local irrigators won’t get any water this year … but they are still receiving bills from SunWater<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Opposition Leader and Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 9, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington has called on the State Government to waive Part A charges for irrigators using the Barker-Barambah Water Supply Scheme.<\/p>\n

Irrigators using the scheme were advised on July 1 they will not be receiving any water this year but SunWater has issued invoices to them anyway.<\/p>\n

In a letter to Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham, Mrs Frecklington has requested the government waive SunWater’s charges.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs Frecklington said Barker-Barambah irrigators had contacted her office to explain while they understood Bjelke-Petersen Dam’s low storage volume meant they would receive no water, they were concerned they still had to pay the Part A (ie. fixed cost) portion of their SunWater bill.<\/p>\n

Mrs Frecklington said Part A was established to separate the costs of managing the scheme and maintaining its assets from Part B (ie. consumption) charges.<\/p>\n

But she thought it unacceptable for SunWater to expect irrigators to pay Part A costs when they received no water and were unlikely to receive any for some time, especially since the South Burnett has been drought-declared since 2017.<\/p>\n

Mrs Frecklington said the government had waived Part A charges in 2006-2009 when water allocations were also at zero per cent.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She has called on the Minister to respect this precedent.<\/p>\n