Sharman Stone MP

 

“If this was a private enterprise you would see the numbers of staff urgently reviewed, you would see salaries considered, you would look at the price structure itself.

 

Goulburn Murray Water is not in the mess it is because they have been undercharging for their very poor standards of service. It’s a case of the pricing structure itself. It’s a case of over manning and under performing. This has been the case for a very long time.

 

“When former Premier Brumby first talked about the contribution of the irrigators to the Foodbowl Modernisation, to justify the North- South pipeline, the first proposition was that irrigators pay $30 million via Goulburn Murray Water. That was then raised to $100 million, and then to a $200 million Goulburn Murray Water irrigator contribution. The Board apparently did nothing about that. It didn’t appear to concern them.

 

“Three years ago Goulburn Murray Water had 610 staff (already a very large number for the task). Since then it has blown out by another 130 staff. For every 10 new staff, you have to add about $1.5 million to the operating costs of the authority.

 

“Apparently the Board approved all of these additional staff without understanding the initial costs and the blow out that has occurred.

 

“You should have expected Goulburn Murray Water staff to have contracted over the last few years, not blow out, because the work that NVIRP now does in planning in the area was originally work undertaken by Goulburn Murray Water staff.

 

Dr Stone said that while the Ombudsman is undertaking his independent inquiry, it is very important that irrigators now consider the alternative to a state owned water authority.

 

“We can look across the river for this alternative in the form of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, the Murray Irrigation Limited and Coleambally system, in Western Australia the Ord and Harvey Schemes and in South Australia all of the irrigators are in charge of the irrigation systems.

 

Sharman Stone said in particular the Zone Six part of the Goulburn Murray system has been working out how to best manage their part of the system for nearly a year now.

 

“There have been public meetings held, and now is the time to consider the Governments arrangements of Goulburn Murray Water to ensure that we never see again a top heavy government run authority which does not hold the interest of irrigators at heart,” Sharman Stone said.