SA Water’s ‘failed policy’ holding up construction of new homes because of lack of water supply, Premier Peter Malinauskas tells Master Builders SA lunch

Premier Peter Malinauskas has lashed SA Water at a Master Builders event over a “failed policy” that has held up the construction of desperately-needed new homes.

Premier Peter Malinauskas has slammed SA Water over a “failed policy” that has held up the construction of desperately-needed new homes due to lack of water supply.

Mr Malinauskas said trunk water infrastructure was needed in order to progress development – but it had not kept up with demand.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said SA Water’s failed policy had held up construction of new homes. Picture: Morgan Sette

“Out at Angle Vale, for instance, there is construction ready to go and it’s just not happening because we don’t have the water infrastructure there,” he told Master Builders SA’s Top 100 Builders Lunch, held at Adelaide Oval on Friday.

He said $365m has been allocated in ESCOSA’s (Essential Services Commission of SA) regulatory determination for trunk water infrastructure.

“But that $365m ... has to be paid for by someone,” he said.

The infrastructure spend, he said, eventually flowed through to water bills, which presented a “difficult balancing act” for the government.

Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Ben Clark

“We want that investment to occur because you need the water to build the homes, which are so desperately needed in the community but at the same time we have got a cost-of-living challenge and we want to put downward pressure on water bills,” he said.

“But, at some point or another, someone’s got to have the courage to bite off the challenge and do something about it because SA Water’s approach up until this point has been a failed policy.

“When you’ve got homes ready to be built that aren’t, simply because of a lack of trunk water infrastructure, that has an enormous long-term impact.”

Master Builders SA chief executive Will Frogley said SA Water and ESCOSA have “badly let South Australians down by failing to budget and plan for our growth”.

“We haven’t had a sudden population spike over and above our projected range. We were always going to need to budget properly to extend mains water infrastructure to new greenfields and they’ve stuffed it,” he said.

“This is not a problem of the Malinauskas Government’s making but it’s vital they step in now and fix it. To overcome the housing shortage we must have certainty of water supply to greenfields developments.”

A SA Water spokesman said: “As a state-owned utility, we need to find the right balance between affordability for customers and prioritising our investment to maintain reliable services and meet growth needs across South Australia”.

SA Water building in Adelaide. NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

“Over recent years, population growth and the subsequent demand for housing growth in Adelaide’s north has accelerated at an unprecedented rate, and significant new water and wastewater infrastructure needs to be built to support these growing communities,” he said.

“Our recent 2024-28 regulatory proposal to the Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) proposed to spend $625m in enabling growth across many of our water and wastewater networks and treatment facilities across the state, representing around 22 per cent of our total proposed capital expenditure.

“Supporting the state’s growth demands is a shared responsibility, and we will continue to work collaboratively with government, industry and developers to find an affordable solution.”

Originally published as SA Water’s ‘failed policy’ holding up construction of new homes because of lack of water supply, Premier Peter Malinauskas tells Master Builders SA lunch