Submission to the National Water Commission on Implementing the National Water Initiative

The Business Council of Australia has made a submission to the National Water Commission’s Implementing the National Water Initiative – 2014 triennial assessment of water reform progress in Australia.

Water represents a fundamental input to both our quality of life and to economic growth. While substantive reforms have been made to water markets to date, further opportunities for improvement remain.

The submission calls for:

• further water pricing reforms to allow efficient cost recovery and pricing flexibility
• the review of regulatory restrictions impeding the water market such as on recycled water and water trading
• where feasible, the sale of public water assets to the private sector
• removal of the water trigger in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
• consideration of appropriate principles and frameworks for water in the Government’s White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.

Submission to the National Water Commission on Implementing the National Water Initiative