It is NFF’s view that Governments have a role to play in supporting water authorities through sustained capital investment to ensure access to water services remains affordable for water users. It would be unacceptable for the costs of addressing ageing infrastructure, asset renewal, and historic underinvestment to be shifted entirely onto end-users, particularly where communities and agricultural supply chains rely on these services and where necessary investment has been neglected or not prioritised.
Where affordability constraints mean the full cost of water services cannot reasonably be recovered from users, Government funding must be transparent and adequate to support essential service delivery (i.e., a Basic Level of Service).
The NFF’s full submission can be found here.