Pensioners’ water bills up 38%

New Sydney Water prices: are these people for real?

“The Sydney Water price increases announced today mean next year’s water bill for waterwise pensioners will be 14 per cent higher”, said CPSA Policy Coordinator Paul Versteege.

“A pensioner household using a typical 500 litres of water a day will face an increase of more than 38 per cent by the end of the Sydney Water pricing period in 2012.

“A pensioner household using just over 500 litres of water a day will face an increase in its annual water bill from $350 now to $500 in 2012.

“IPART and Sydney Water think that if they increase the water bill for pensioners by roughly what the rest of the community has to cop, they’ve done their duty. They haven’t.

“Obviously, every Sydney Water customer has a right to be angry over these massive, largely unnecessary price increases. But a 38 per cent increase is a lot harder to cop on $273 a week (the pension) than it is on an average wage (over $1,000 a week)."

Media contact: 0410 612 182

Charmaine Crowe
Policy Coordinator
Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association (CPSA)
Level 9, 28 Foveaux Street Surry Hills NSW, 2010
Phone (02) 9281 3588
Mob 0410 612 182
Fax (02) 9281 9716