I make a contribution to debate on the Constitution Amendment (Sydney Water and Hunter Water) Bill 2023. Today Labor is keeping a promise to the people of New South Wales by protecting Sydney Water and Hunter Water from privatisation and doing so in the New South Wales Constitution—as our Premier has said, just like it should be. Before I deal in detail with the reasons for this legislation, I point out that it was the former Coalition Government which decided in 2011 that the good work of Sydney Water in the Blue Mountains would stop when we had been rolling out connection to the sewer. The former Government just left out approximately 50 families in the Blue Mountains by stopping that program, despite protestations from my community. I know what it is to have communities hurt. Those communities have never forgiven the former Coalition Government.

Throughout the better part of last year, Dominic Perrottet refused to rule out selling Sydney Water and other essential State-owned assets—a sale that would have meant the risk of higher water charges for New South Wales and over $7 billion lost in dividends that could be used to help to fund schools and hospitals. Labor in New South Wales pledged there would be no more privatisation and a guarantee that New South Wales water infrastructure will stay in public hands. Today the Government will deliver on that promise. There will be no further privatisation of public assets. Labor is keeping Sydney Water and Hunter Water safe.

Water is a critical public asset that provides essential services to the people of Sydney that include water supply, wastewater management and stormwater services. It plays a vital role in ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of communities by delivering clean and reliable water, protecting the environment and managing the city's water resources sustainability. We know that privatising Sydney Water and Hunter Water may lead to increased water costs for consumers. Private companies seek profit margins and prioritise financial gains over affordability for the public, and that has been the mantra of those opposite for way too long.

Privatisation can result in reduced accountability and transparency. We know that private entities prioritise their own interests and make it challenging to ensure public oversight and involvement in decision‑making processes. Privatisation would most likely result in high-quality water standards and infrastructure investment taking a back seat to company profits. I feel like for the past eight years that I have been a member of this place, I have been talking about the impact of privatisation every day and every week. It is so good now to be talking about why the Government will not be privatising.

Public ownership allows for community participation, input and oversight through mechanisms such as public consultations, transparent reporting and accountability to elected representatives. Public ownership of Sydney Water and Hunter Water ensures that decisions are made in the best interest of communities, taking into account affordability, environmental sustainability and long-term planning. Sydney Water, as a publicly owned entity, can prioritise investment in infrastructure upgrades, maintenance and innovation to ensure reliable and sustainable water services for current and future generations. Time and again it has been established that privatisation does not guarantee improved efficiency or cost-effectiveness.

By entrenching the commitment to protect Sydney Water and Hunter Water and other public assets in legislation, the Government demonstrates its dedication to ensuring long-term availability, affordability and sustainability of essential services for the people of Sydney and beyond. One of the problems of privatisation—or, as those opposite have called it for the eight years for which I have been a member of this House, "asset recycling"—is that communities and families are short-changed. That is what the former Government did. "Profit before people" was the mantra of those opposite. The new Government—the Labor Government—puts public interest first. Public interest must be at the forefront. There are many industries that perform an important public service, such as health care, education and public transport. In those industries the profit motive should not be the primary objective. Because I think it is important for the record, I will turn quickly to mention some—it is a long list—of what the Liberal‑Nationals sold off, or flogged off, when they were in government.

The list begins with the Sydney Desalination Plant, Port Botany, Port Kembla, Eraring Energy, the Mt Piper and Wallerawang power stations, the Port of Newcastle, Green State Power, the Bayswater and Liddell power stations, Hunter Water Australia, Colongra Power Station, Westlink M7 Base Rent, Vales Point Power Station, Transgrid, the Kooragang Island advanced water treatment plant, Ausgrid, the Public Works Construction Services Group, and the titling and registry business of New South Wales Land and Property Information. The member for Bathurst never stood up for any of these entities during in his time in government. The list also includes Endeavour Energy, Northern Beaches Hospital, all Sydney bus routes, the WestConnex motorway, and more.

For contrast, I put on record some of the fantastic work the Minister for Water has been doing since the Labor Party has been in government. The Minister has been getting out and about across the State. She has been to Ballina—perhaps that is of interest to the member for Ballina. She went to Menindee on 17 March after the mass fish death. She was in Lismore on 21 April, talking about how the Government can support flood-affected communities. The Minister went to Walgett on 29 May to talk to the town about access to safe and secure water. She has been to the North Coast and Ballina and met with a number of organisations there. The Minister for Water is very active, and the Government has a fantastic plan that supports communities and the public ownership of public entities.

I finish by quoting something I said to the then transport Minister. Every day that I have been in Parliament for the past eight years there has always been something to say about how the government of the day was running public transport into the ground. I said to the then Minister, "We know what your endgame is, and we will fight back. We will fight back against your ideological obsession with privatisation. We will stand up for the workers. We will fight back." Today, the Government is fighting back.