Water Services Inquiry

Inquiry status:

Past

Date commenced:

11 Jun 2003

Deadline for submissions:

24 Sep 2003

Date Ended:

23 Jan 2005

Committee

Public Administration and Finance Committee (2001 - 2005)

House:

Legislative Council

Important Information:

Terms of Reference:

On Sunday, January 23 2005 the Parliament of Western Australia was prorogued. This had the effect of terminating all the current business of Parliament. This means that the sittings of Parliament cease and the Legislative Council's referral of this inquiry to the Committee falls away. The Committee's inquiry into this matter ceased.

On Wednesday, June 11 2003 the Legislative Council referred an inquiry into water services in Western Australia to the Standing Commitee on Public Administration and Finance, and the terms of reference for the inquiry, in accordance with the Legislative Council's referral, are as follows:

That the Public Administration and Finance Committee inquire into and report on the issues confronting Western Australia that arise from, or relate to, the present and future sustainable supply, quality, retention, and maintenance of water services throughout the State.

On March 12 2004, the Subcommittee agreed that the main focus of the inquiry would be:

the quantity, quality and location of water resources currently available in Western Australia;
possibilities for future sources of water;
the quantity, quality and location of current and potential future demand for water; and
the most cost-efficient way to meet current and potential future demand for water.

Submission Number	Submitting person/organisation
No submissions

Unless a venue is specified, hearings are held at the
Legislative Council Committee Rooms, Level 1, 2 Parliament Place, West Perth

Date	Time	Venue	Organisation	Witness
05 May 2004	07:30 PM	Select Committee Room, Parliament House, Perth	Water Corporation	Dr Jim Gill and Garry Meinck
12 May 2004	07:00 PM	Parliamentary Services Conference Room, Parliament House	Waters & Rivers Commission	Dr Don McFarlane and Rod Banyard
21 Jun 2004	01:45 PM	Legislative Council Committee Office, 1110 Hay Street, West Perth	CSIRO Waters & Rivers Commission	Mr Tom Hatton Dr Don McFarlane and Ian Loh
30 Jun 2004	06:45 PM	Legislative Assembly Committee Room, Parliament House	Weather Modification, Inc	Mr Patrick Sweeney, President, Weather Modification Inc Dr Roelof Bruintjes, National Centre for Atmospheric Research
22 Jul 2004	10:00 AM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Water Corporation	Tony Chafer
22 Jul 2004	10:30 AM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Ord Irrigation Co-operative	Andrew Kelly, CEO Lindsay Innes, Director
22 Jul 2004	11:00 AM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Shire of Wyndham & East Kimberley	Chris Adams, CEO
22 Jul 2004	12:00 PM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Miriuwung & Gajerrong People	Mr Robert Hannon Executive Coordinator
22 Jul 2004	01:15 PM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Ord River District Coop	Jim Hughes, Managing Director (Mr Hughes is also representing Chamber of Commerce)
22 Jul 2004	02:00 PM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Aboriginal Social and Economic Impact Assessment Ctee Subctee of a steering ctee	Des Hill & Edna O’Malley
22 Jul 2004	02:30 PM	Mercure Hotel, Kununurra	Private citizen	Keith Wright
29 Jul 2004	09:30 AM	Sanctuary Golf Resort	Water and Rivers Commission/Dept of Environment, Bunbury	Dr Fionnuala Hannon, Program Manager, Environment Water and Management Section Catherine Harrison, Manager of the Water Allocation Branch Philip Commander, Senior Hydro Geologist, Water & Hydrology Branch
29 Jul 2004	10:30 AM	Sanctuary Golf Resort	Harvey Water	Mr Geoff Calder, General Manager
29 Jul 2004	11:00 AM	Sanctuary Golf Resort	WA Fruit Growers Assoc	Chris Scott, Water Spokesperson Mr Robert McFerran, Executive Manager
29 Jul 2004	11:30 AM	Sanctuary Golf Resort	Water Users Coalition	Mr David Wren
29 Jul 2004	01:15 PM	Sanctuary Golf Resort	Private consultant - agriculture, irrigation & drainage	Mr Roger Doyle, engineer
29 Jul 2004	01:45 PM	Sanctuary Golf Resort	Shire of Busselton, Local Government SW Subcommittee on the Yarragadee	Ms Helen Shervington, Shire of Busselton
27 Sep 2004	02:30 PM	Broadwater Kalgoorlie	Kalgoorlie Chamber of Commerce	Mr Hugh Gallagher, EO
27 Sep 2004	02:45 PM	Broadwater Kalgoorlie	City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder	Mr Ron Yuryevich, Mayor
27 Sep 2004	03:30 PM	Broadwater Kalgoorlie	United Utilities Australia for the Esperance Goldfields Water Project	Mr Phil Endley, Project Manager, Stan Boath, PR Manager

Site Visits and Travel Details:

Hearings were held at the Mercure Hotel, Kununurra on Thursday July 22, 2004.

Site visits:
The Subcommittee visited Ivanhoe Crossing, Ord River Irrigation Area, part of the proposed irrigation area (Ord River Stage II) and Lake Kununurra on July 21 2004.

In the afternoon of July 22 2004 the Subcommittee conducted a site visit to Lake Argyle, visiting the hydro power plant and spillway.

Hearings were held at the Sanctuary Golf Resort, Bunbury on Thursday, July 29 2004.

Hearings were held at the Broadwater, Kalgoorlie on Monday, September 27 2004.

Related Transcripts of Evidence:

•

Evidence by.. Dr Jim Gill (Managing Director, Water Corporation), Mr Garry Meinck (General Manager, Planning and Development, Water Corporation) on 5 May 2004

•

Evidence by.. Dr Don McFarlane (Director, Resource Management, Water and Rivers Commission), Mr Roderic Banyard (Manager, Strategic Development and Planning, Water and Rivers Commission) on 12 May 2004

•

Evidence by.. Dr Don McFarlane (Director, Resource Management, Department of Environment), Mr Ian Loh (Strategy Manager, Strategic Development & Planning, Resource Management Division, Department of Environment) on 21 Jun 2004

•

Evidence by.. Dr Thomas Hatton (Deputy Chief, CSIRO Land and Water), Dr Bryson Bates (Director, CSIRO Climate Program), Dr Simon Toze (Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water) on 21 Jun 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Ross Marshall (Director, Investment Facilitation Division, Department of Industry and Resources), Mr David Meehan (Project Manager, Department of Industry and Resources) on 28 Jun 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Patrick Sweeney (President, Weather Modification Inc), Dr Roelof Bruintjes (Scientist, Principal Investigator, Rainfall Enhancement Programs, National Center for Atmospheric Research) on 30 Jun 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Desmond Hill (Member, Steering Committee, Aboriginal Social & Economic Impact Assessment Committee) on 22 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Jim Hughes (Chief Executive Officer, Ord River District Cooperative Ltd) on 22 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Keith Wright (Private Citizen) on 22 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Tony Chafer (Area Manager - East Kimberley, Water Corporation) on 22 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Christopher Adams (Chief Executive Officer, Shire of Wyndham-East Kimberley) on 22 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Andrew Kelly (Chief Executive Officer, Ord Irrigation Co-operative), Mr Lindsay Innes (Farmer and Vice Chairman, Ord Irrigation Co-operative) on 22 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Geoff Calder (General Manager, Harvey Water) on 29 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Ms Helen Shervington (Member, Southern Yarragadee Committee) on 29 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Chris Scott (Water Spokesperson, Western Australian Fruit Growers' Association), Mr Robert McFerran (Executive Manager, Western Australian Fruit Growers' Association) on 29 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr David Wren (Water Rights Spokesperson, Pastoralists & Graziers Association, & Secretary, Western Australian Water Users Coalition), Mr Eric Phillips (Committee Member, Western Australian Water Users Coalition) on 29 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Roger Doyle (Irrigation and Drainage Consultant, Audax Enterprises Pty Ltd) on 29 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Dr Fionnuala Hannon (Program Manager, Department of Environment, Bunbury), Ms Catherine Harrison (Manager, Water Allocation Branch, Department of Environment, East Perth), Mr David Philip Commander (Principal Hydrogeologist, Department of Environment, East Perth) on 29 Jul 2004

•

Evidence by.. Professor Jorg Imberger (Chair and Vice Chancellor's Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Water Research, University of Western Australia) on 16 Aug 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Des Pearson (Auditor General, Office of the Auditor General), Mr Glen Clarke (Executive Director, Compliance and Information Service, Office of the Auditor General) on 23 Aug 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Des Pearson (Auditor General, Office of the Auditor General), Mr Glen Clarke (Executive Director, Compliance and Information Service, Office of the Auditor General) on 23 Aug 2004

•

Evidence by.. Ms Susan Worley (Regional Manager, North West Region - Pilbara and Kimberley, Department of Environment) on 22 Sep 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Ron Yuryevich (Mayor, City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder) on 27 Sep 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Stanley Boath (Public Relations Manager, United Utilities Australia), Mr Philip Endley (Project Manager, United Utilities Australia) on 27 Sep 2004

•

Evidence by.. Mr Hugh Gallagher (Chief Executive Officer, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Chamber of Commerce and Industry) on 27 Sep 2004

Related Reports:

Report No	Title	Date tabled	Related documents
8	Water Services in Western Australia	11 Nov 2004

Members conducting inquiry

Members:

Hon. Barry John House MLC
Hon. John Duncombe Fischer MLC
Hon. Diane (Dee) Elizabeth Margetts MLC
Hon. Kenneth (Ken) Dunstan Elder Travers MLC
Hon. Suzanne (Sue) Mary Ellery MLC
Hon. Murray John Criddle MLC
Hon. Edmund (Ed) Rupert Joseph Dermer MLC

Participating Members:

A problem has occured

Membership Comments:

The Committee appointed Hon Barry House MLC (Convenor), Hon Ken Travers MLC, Hon John Fischer MLC and Hon Dee Margetts MLC as a Sub Committee to look at this referral.

Staff Members:

Ms Jan Paniperis, BA (Committee Clerk)
A problem has occured