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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 900 asked in the Legislative Council on 9 October 2018 by Hon Jim Chown

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

WATER — LICENCE FEES

900. Hon JIM CHOWN to the minister representing the Minister for Water:

I refer to the announcement that the McGowan government proposes to raise fees for water licences, in which the Department of Water and Environment states, as quoted in The West Australian of 8 October 2018 —

''Government considers WA taxpayers bearing almost the full cost of providing regulatory services unsustainable,'' ...

(1) By how much does the government intend to increase the cost of new and renewed water licences?

(2) If the government intends to increase water licences, why is this increase being imposed on agriculture and horticulture?

(3) What licensing and permit costs for water are currently being borne by the taxpayer?

Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:

I thank the member for the question. The following information has been provided by the Minister for Water.

The government has not made an announcement that it proposes to raise fees for water licences, which included the statement ''Government considers WA taxpayers bearing almost the full cost of providing regulatory services unsustainable'', as suggested in the preamble to the question.

(1) There are currently no fees for assessing water licence and permit applications, with the cost borne by the taxpayer. For mining and public water supply sectors only, the cost of assessing a new licence application will range from $5 357 to $8 929 and the cost to assess an application to renew an existing water licence will range from $4 001 to $6 668. Licences are generally issued for 10 years.

(2) No decision has been made to introduce water licence and permit assessment fees to sectors other than mining and public water suppliers. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is undertaking consultation on fees for other water use sectors.

(3) The cost incurred by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to assess water licence and permit applications was $15 577 921 in 2015–16 and $14 606 870 in 2016–17.