Premier Peter Malinauskas to unveil housing road map with investment in water and sewage connections

Premier Peter Malinauskas will unveil a housing road map on Tuesday, with plans to fix one key bottleneck blocking new developments.

Major spending on mains water and sewerage connections to rapidly growing Adelaide suburbs, with limited bill increases, is set to be unveiled on Tuesday by Premier Peter Malinauskas as the centrepiece of his Housing Road Map.

Funding the more than $1bn estimated cost is expected to be spread between water bill rises, charges on property developers and increasing SA’s $44.2bn state debt.

In an interview with The Advertiser ahead of Tuesday’s housing summit, Mr Malinauskas said his road map would detail government actions to get more homes built more quickly, particularly in Adelaide’s north.

“Kicking the can down the road on building more water infrastructure in growth areas would now be a moral hazard,” he said.

“To do so erodes, if not extinguishes, the grand bargain we have with the next generation of South Australians that they have a chance of home ownership and the wealth accumulation that comes with that.”

Premier Peter Malinauskas (right) and Education, Training and Skills Minister Blair Boyer (left) at a Blair Athol press conference on Monday morning. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

The Advertiser in March revealed water bill increases and deepening the state’s debt were being considered to help fund the more than $1bn cost to install water and sewerage infrastructure to housing developments, including four parcels of at least 23,700 homes announced by Mr Malinauskas in February last year.

Opposition Leader David Speirs on Monday warned any water bill increase would add further pain during a cost-of-living crisis.

But Mr Malinauskas said a national housing crunch was creating a major economic and moral challenge – to boost supply to attract workers and help young people.

“People will go to where the homes are – and where goes the people, goes the capital. I reckon there’s a bit of a race on as to who can unlock housing growth fastest. We want to win that race,” he said.

“AUKUS (nuclear-powered submarine construction in Adelaide) requires homes and so do all the other opportunities.”

Mr Malinauskas on Monday announced more than 30,000 new building and construction apprentice training places in a bid to ease the housing crisis – an increase of 1000 per year from current levels.

First-year electricians Hugh Taylor and Kobey Getgood were at Premier Peter Malinauskas’s press conference to announce more apprentice training places. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Mr Speirs argued the former Liberal government lowered household and business water bills by an average of $200 annually and $1350 respectively.

“South Australian households and businesses are already dealing with the highest inflation rate in the nation and skyrocketing electricity bills – the last thing they need is a hike in water bills,” he said.

Urban Development Institute of Australia SA chief executive Liam Golding said there were severe problems across Adelaide getting essential SA Water approvals to start building homes.

“There are enormous consequences for the state as these issues continue and the current housing shortages and the associated housing affordability crisis gets worse,” he said.