Media Releases

Claims the Victorian Coalition Government has profited by collecting higher dividends due to money collected for the desalination plant are false.
The desalination plant will cost every Melbourne household $400 a year every year for the next 27 years before one drop of water is purchased.
That is the legacy that Tim Holding, John Lenders and the Labor Party left Victorians.
As the architect of this bungled and unnecessary project, Labor is trying desperately to shift the blame by making completely false and misleading claims.
These are the facts:
Fact: The dividend payable for 2011-12 will not be determined until later in the year when Melbourne Water’s full operating results are known.
Fact: The dividends received in the current financial year relate to the 2010-11 operating result, prior to the collection of money for the desalination plant.
The increase from $26 million in 2010-11 to an anticipated $118 million in 2011-12 occurred because dividends in the 2010-11 year were deferred until Melbourne Water’s full operating results were known.
This practice is not uncommon and has occurred previously – including under the Labor Party – as it enables the government to make a more accurate judgement based on full year results.
Fact: Our commitment is that any over-recovery, plus interest, will be handed back to customers in the form of a freeze on prices. It is therefore anticipated that there will be no impact on overall dividends.
The Coalition Government has taken decisive action to return as quickly as possible the money collected from Melbourne Water customers to pay for the desalination plant.