{"id":65842,"date":"2026-08-05T21:35:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/65842\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:35:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T21:35:36","slug":"ben-carroll-pressed-to-rule-out-melbourne-water-privatisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/65842\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Carroll pressed to rule out Melbourne Water privatisation"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Victorian Premier Ben Carroll is under pressure to rule out any future privatisation of Melbourne Water after confidential cabinet documents<\/a> revealed the government has been examining options to bring private investors into the state-owned utility for at least five years. <\/p>\n

The Australian on Wednesday published the contents of cabinet documents showing former premier Jacinta Allan and senior ministers in 2024 approved a 12-month business case codenamed Project Nerva to investigate bringing private investors into Melbourne Water<\/a>, the authority that owns almost $18bn in dams, pipelines, treatment plants and other water infrastructure. <\/p>\n

The government initially examined a transaction comparable in scale to the Andrews government’s 50-year lease of the Port of Melbourne, which raised $9.7bn, before narrowing its focus to a deal worth about $3bn to $4bn. <\/p>\n

Sources familiar with cabinet deliberations said Mr Carroll, then deputy premier, supported work on continuing the proposal as a member of the Budget and Finance Committee of Cabinet in 2025.<\/p>\n

Independent economist Saul Eslake said he was not surprised Victoria was considering a form of privatisation for its water assets after Daniel Andrews sold or leased more than $20bn of assets and Jeff Kennett sold more than $25bn.<\/p>\n

But Mr Eslake said the Victorian government was running out of options for privatisation and questioned whether privatising water assets was a sensible approach considering the international examples of where it has gone wrong.<\/p>\n

He also questioned whether any transaction would amount to little more than a \u201ccosmetic\u201d exercise to make it appear the government was reducing debt \u2013 forecast to approach $200bn by the end of the decade \u2013 describing it instead as a form of \u201caccounting trickery\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be very difficult for anyone to contemplate privatisation in the sense that you and I understand that term with Melbourne Water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPartly because the overseas experience is so awful, and in particular from the UK with Macquarie\u2019s involvement in Thames Water. Any government that contemplated doing it would be almost literally inundated with bad news stories about how that hasn\u2019t worked. <\/p>\n

\u201cKennett and (his treasurer Alan) Stockdale didn\u2019t do it \u2013 and you kind of think if they could have done it, they would have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cabinet documents revealed that ministers considered a joint venture proposal similar to the VicRoads transaction in 2022 that netted the state $7.9bn.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might be possible to securitise those revenues in the same way they securitised the motor vehicle registration fees and got a lump-sum payment,\u201d Mr Eslake said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s quid pro quo obviously \u2013 Melbourne Water wouldn\u2019t be able to pay the same annual dividends to the government because it wouldn\u2019t have access to that stream of revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s sort of an accounting trick \u2026 If they sold the rights to that stream of revenue for, say, $10bn and used it to pay down debt \u2013 yes you would get an immediate reduction of debt, but the capacity to run future cash surpluses would be reduced.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Victorian government spokesperson said Mr Carroll \u201cdoes not support privatising Melbourne Water\u201d and attempted to place pressure on the Coalition to rule it out.<\/p>\n

Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell said privatising water was \u201cone of the worst ideas imaginable\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll lead to higher bills and put our clean water, health and communities at risk,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrivatising water has been a total disaster in the UK, which has led to raw sewerage pumped into rivers and beaches, tap water outages and skyrocketing bills. <\/p>\n

\u201cLabor has treated Victoria\u2019s public assets like we\u2019re having a garage sale.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the state Opposition didn\u2019t comment on whether it would also explore the idea in government, instead focusing on the leaked cabinet documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis leak highlights exactly how divided Labor\u2019s cabinet is,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLabor don\u2019t care about Victorians, only settling their own internal scores. It\u2019s time for a fresh start.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cabinet documents stated that Project Nerva is premised upon the \u201cstate retaining ownership of vital water infrastructure\u201d and considers options for \u201cprivate sector investment, innovation and input for the delivery of waste\u00adwater treatment, transfer services and recycled water distribution\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an opportunity for private sector investment, innovation and input in Project Nerva that could provide operational and capital efficiencies, potentially fund part of the sector\u2019s future \u00adinfrastructure requirements, as well as upfront proceeds to the state to provide balance sheet relief,\u201d said the submission, which was approved by Ms Allan and senior ministers. <\/p>\n

It warned that bringing in private investors could reduce \u00adMelbourne Water\u2019s lucrative commercial income streams, which had helped keep down household water bills, and said ministers should consider how \u201cthe state also benefits from the unregulated business opportunities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The documents leave little doubt Victoria\u2019s worsening financial position was the driving factor. The cabinet submission noted net debt was forecast to reach $178bn by June 2027, saying the Covid-19 pandemic had \u201ca significant \u00adimpact on both the Victorian economy and, through the government\u2019s actions to respond to and recover after the pandemic, on Victoria\u2019s debt level and balance sheet\u201d.<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Daniel Andrews<\/a>Victoria Politics<\/a>\"Anthony<\/a>Anthony Galloway<\/a>Victorian political editor <\/p>\n

Anthony Galloway is The Australian’s Victorian political editor, having reported on
\nsome of the nation\u2019s biggest security and political stories over the past decade. He was previously foreign affairs and national security correspondent at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, chief political correspondent at Capital Brief and earlier a political reporter at the Herald Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Victorian Premier Ben Carroll is under pressure to rule out any future privatisation of Melbourne Water after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[81890,81886,72013,81875,81887,63423,81885,81836,32730,17327,81848,81877,81873,81844,43819,57931,81828,49619,81814,81868,37595,81851,50625,39182,64579,81874,81849,21187,24907,81854,81811,81820,46057,81819,81810,81860,45160,81827,21,81809,81867,12688,5489,81847,19615,40033,81882,30833,3862,5204,81853,38281,68052,81833,2547,81855,81872,81841,81826,81843,81856,81881,4076,81864,156,81816,80583,6432,260,5667,81880,5488,72741,81884,57807,72816,45109,70807,81876,43700,81831,81871,81859,44547,3121,81857,21787,65879,3667,81842,22266,81815,81883,81846,81866,81863,81834,9553,40829,81817,78714,47216,81858,62463,40602,81862,81879,81818,81888,81852,63311,43941,81869,81829,81823,47531,10264,52933,81813,68808,38263,23380,40959,81837,81822,81835,81891,81824,47042,70640,81861,53579,3768,60223,45954,37964,49522,81830,50128,37041,81840,46716,81838,81850,73107,81812,81870,36894,81832,81839,81845,68,45275,81878,81821,81889,39318,22441,17331,81825,81865],"class_list":["post-65842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-melbourne","tag-s-cabinet","tag-s-future-infrastructure-requirements","tag-s-involvement","tag-s-public-assets","tag-10bn","tag-200bn","tag-7-9bn","tag-9-7bn","tag-32730","tag-17327","tag-2025-independent-economist-saul-eslake","tag-50-year-lease","tag-a-cosmetic-exercise","tag-a-12-month-business-case","tag-a-deal","tag-a-form","tag-a-fresh-start","tag-a-garage-sale","tag-a-joint-venture-proposal","tag-a-lump-sum-payment","tag-a-member","tag-a-sensible-approach","tag-a-spokesperson","tag-a-total-disaster","tag-a-transaction","tag-a-victorian-government-spokesperson","tag-about-3bn-to-4bn","tag-access","tag-accounting-trickery","tag-almost-18bn","tag-an-accounting-trick","tag-an-immediate-reduction","tag-an-opportunity","tag-any-future-privatisation","tag-any-government","tag-any-transaction","tag-assets","tag-at-least-five-years","tag-austrlia","tag-bad-news-stories","tag-balance-sheet-relief","tag-ben-carroll","tag-cabinet","tag-cabinet-deliberations","tag-cabinet-documents","tag-communities","tag-confidential-cabinet-documents","tag-dams","tag-daniel-andrews","tag-debt","tag-debt-forecast","tag-five-years","tag-former-premier-jacinta-allan","tag-future-cash-surpluses","tag-government","tag-greens-leader-ellen-sandell","tag-health-and","tag-higher-bills","tag-his-treasurer-alan","tag-innovation-and-input","tag-its-focus","tag-its-water-assets","tag-jeff-kennett","tag-kennett","tag-labor","tag-leaked-cabinet-documents","tag-little-more-than","tag-macquarie","tag-melbourne","tag-melbourne-water","tag-melbourne-water-sale","tag-ministers","tag-more-than-20bn","tag-more-than-25bn-but","tag-mr-carroll","tag-mr-eslake","tag-ms-allan","tag-new-victorian-premier-ben-carroll","tag-operational-and-capital-efficiencies","tag-options","tag-other-water-infrastructure","tag-our-clean-water","tag-out-victorian","tag-ownership","tag-part","tag-pipelines","tag-pressure","tag-private-capital","tag-private-investors","tag-private-sector-investment","tag-privatisation","tag-privatising-water","tag-privatising-water-assets","tag-project-nerva","tag-quid-pro-quo","tag-raw-sewerage","tag-recycled-water-distribution","tag-revenue","tag-risk","tag-rivers-and-beaches","tag-scale","tag-senior-ministers","tag-skyrocketing-bills","tag-sort","tag-sources","tag-stockdale","tag-thames-water","tag-that-stream","tag-that-term","tag-the-18bn-utility","tag-the-andrews-government","tag-the-australian","tag-the-authority","tag-the-budget-and-finance-committee","tag-the-cabinet-documents","tag-the-capacity","tag-the-coalition","tag-the-contents","tag-the-decade","tag-the-delivery","tag-the-end","tag-the-government","tag-the-idea","tag-the-international-examples","tag-the-leaked-cabinet-documents","tag-the-motor-vehicle-registration-fees","tag-the-overseas-experience","tag-the-port","tag-the-proposal","tag-the-rights","tag-the-same-annual-dividends","tag-the-same-way","tag-the-sector","tag-the-sense","tag-the-spokesperson","tag-the-state","tag-the-state-opposition","tag-the-state-owned-utility","tag-the-submission","tag-the-uk","tag-the-vicroads-transaction","tag-the-victorian-government","tag-the-worst-ideas","tag-their-own-internal-scores","tag-then-deputy-premier","tag-this-leak","tag-those-revenues","tag-time","tag-transfer-services","tag-treatment-plants","tag-upfront-proceeds","tag-victoria","tag-victorians","tag-vital-water-infrastructure","tag-wastewater-treatment","tag-water-outages","tag-ways","tag-wednesday","tag-work","tag-wrong-he","tag-you-and-i"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}