Dominic Perrottet refusal to rule out privatising Sydney Water and other vital state-owned assets means the risk of higher water charges for NSW and over $7 billion lost in reoccurring dividends to NSW that could be used to help fund schools and hospitals. 

NSW Labor is pledging no more privatisation, and a guarantee that NSW’s water infrastructure will stay in public hands.

In the period 2012 to 2026 Sydney Water and Hunter Water will have delivered $7.7 billion in dividends to the state.

On average, Sydney Water returns half a billion dollars to the state every single year.

That’s why it’s no surprise that Dominic Perrottet has his eye on selling off Sydney Water Corporation should they be successful in March 2023.

When questioned by a journalist about the potential privatisation of Sydney Water yesterday (8 February 2023), the NSW Premier responded as follows:

Journalist: Can you rule it out?

Premier: I’ve always said that we will always look at the means possible to continue to build infrastructure… the government has no plans on any further privatisations in his state.

Why does this sound familiar? Because we’ve heard it all before. This is what Premier Perrottet said about four years beforehand on December 5 2018 (before the election and before he sold Westconnex):

“I can assure you the government does not have any plans to sell down our retained interest in the WestConnex project.”

And this is what Mr Perrottet’s predecessor, Premier Berejiklian, said about four years before that on 5 March 2015 about not privatising Sydney Buses – again just before the election and just before they did.

“All I can say is, it’s [bus privatisation] not in our plans,” she said. “If it was in our plans we would let you know.”

NSW can’t risk another four more years of Dominic Perrottet and his privatisation agenda – it means NSW ends up paying more in the long run.

The Liberals privatised roads and now NSW is the most tolled city on the face of the earth.

They privatised electricity and now NSW households pay $100 more than needed for power per year, with biggest brunt borne by areas served by privatised electricity networks.[ii]

Chris Minns, NSW Labor Leader said:

“Mr Perrottet is selling you a furphy. What will future generations use to build the infrastructure NSW needs if Dominic Perrottet sells off all our assets?

“It’s like selling your family jewels to pay off the credit card. It’s a trojan horse.”

“Under Labor – no more privatisation. Under Dominic Perrottet and the Liberals its more fire sales of our assets that produce the dividends to pay for the essential services we need.”

Daniel Mookhey, NSW Shadow Treasurer said:

“About every four years, right before an election this government is asked if it will privatise something. They say they have no plans on one side of the election, then they go and do it on the other side of the election.

“So when the Premier responded yesterday to a question about Sydney Water privatisation with ‘the government has no plans’ for it, we all know exactly what this means. This is the same old Liberal Government up to the same old tricks.

“When it comes to Sydney Water, the choice is crystal clear. The Liberals don’t have a current ‘plan’ to privatise it, where Labor will give you an iron clad promise that we won’t.

“The best water savings measure you can take is to vote Labor on March 25, 2023.

Rose Jackson, NSW Shadow Minister for Water said:

“Under the NSW Liberal Government, Sydney Water would go from a State-Owned Corporation to a State Sold Corporation – with funds used to prop up their budget today, but meaning that we will all pay more for water tomorrow.

“We are in the midst of a cost of living crisis, and the wrong response to this is to sell public utilities and public infrastructure, and therefore lose control of the cost of providing basic public services to the people of NSW.

“We need to turn off the tap on this government and its Sydney Water privatisation agenda.”
CHRIS MINNS MP
NSW LABOR LEADER

DANIEL MOOKHEY MLC
NSW SHADOW TREASURER

ROSE JACKSON MLC
NSW SHADOW MINISTER FOR WATER