SA Libs hose down cheaper water promise
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis says a high-ranking Liberal must answer for “secretly” dumping an election promise for lower water bills. But the Liberals blame the government for its decision in another tit-for-tat drama.
The Liberal Party have discontinued a policy to reverse Labor’s 3.5 per cent water bill increase, Liberal shadow water minister Nicola Centofanti told an Australian Water Association SA Breakfast on Wednesday.
But it was Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis who broke the news to media in a press conference today, playing audio from the ticketed industry breakfast on Thursday morning and calling it “explosive” in the 19th Labor press release criticising the Liberals so far in 2026.
Koutsantonis said Water Minister Nick Champion “almost fell off his chair” at the breakfast he was also attending when Centofanti said the party had ditched the policy, which was announced by David Speirs and a feature of the Liberals’ 2025 budget reply.
Just 10 minutes before the Koutsantonis press conference, the Liberals announced in a press release that their focus was “wholesale tax reform” and that the party would still look at the Labor-imposed SA Water Bill Levy.
“To be clear, the commission will have the sole focus of making our state more affordable and supersedes the policies of previous leaders,” Liberal spokesperson Ben Hood said.
You might like
The Levy was first announced in 2024 and cost SA householders an average of $85 more on their annual water bill, which the government said would help pay for new water infrastructure to address the housing crisis.
Koutsantonis said that his 57-page spending tracker of Liberal Party policies – being constantly updated by his staff members – “is unlocking policies they’ve forgotten, unlocking policies that they know that they’ve committed to and have lost track of”.
Hood said Koutsantonis’ claims were “another day, another example of Labor not being focused on the important things for South Australians”.
“Instead of explaining how he’ll make life more affordable, the Treasurer is criticising the Liberal party for not getting rid of a tax he imposed and is conceding it’s a cost of living hit on people,” Hood said.
Stay informed, daily
“Kouts needs to stop sitting in his dark room scrolling through social media and meet some real people to understand how his government’s failures are hurting real families.”
When asked about the policy substance of Labor’s water bill increase, Koutsantonis said it’s an example of the government pulling “every policy lever we have” to address housing issues.
“We explained that when we announced this, and when we announced this policy of increasing water bills to pay for more infrastructure to build more homes, the Liberals opposed it,” Koutsantonis said.
When asked how many resources he had put into monitoring the Liberals policies and social media presence, Koutsantonis said “It’s not that hard”.
“It’s my job as treasurer, if there’s an idea I haven’t thought of that could be beneficial, of course I’ll look at it but to then say am I wasting time, if you follow the logical consequence of that question, that means I think no one else has any good ideas.
“So I’m happy to look at all policies and if there’s a good idea, I’ll copy it, if it’s not, I won’t.”
