Is there any other commodity or service of which the price is so frequently reported on and debated as water? I think not, and it has been that way for decades - although in the past five years electricity has possibly come a close second.In the past few weeks alone, the Water Corporation of Western Australia has testified before a Parliamentary Committee about water prices, the South Australian Government is inquiring into water prices for sporting clubs, and ACTEW is being investigated after a very arduous price-setting process. Even during the recent major drought, we rarely saw articles about the price of fruit and vegetables - in spite of the fact that they went up considerably - but we always have plenty of print and electronic media coverage of water prices.The amount of money paid each year by water consumers for their water and sewerage services is actually quite modest compared to the rest of the household or enterprise budget. IPART in New South Wales and ESC in Victoria have made water pricing less political for over 20 years now, and have been very successful in focusing the natural monopolies in water and other utilities on value for money and performance standards.
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