9 Comments
User's avatar
⭠ Return to thread
Liberty Itch's avatar

Bob Day

Don't forget water taxes. For example, SA Water’s Annual Reports shows an average of around $300m pa is paid to the SA State government in ‘dividends’. That’s over $3bn in profits made by SA Water paid to the State Govt over the past 10 years.

Expand full comment
Steve Holland's avatar

Absolutely! Often disguised as connection charges or service fees.

Expand full comment
Liberty Itch's avatar

Bob Day.

The 'dividends' tax is not disguised at all. It is a straight out transfer of funds from SA Water to the State Government. Electricity taxes have also been introduced under the guise of 'privatization'. For example, again in SA, the government sold the SA Electricity Trust at a massively inflated (above market) price in exchange for a guaranteed return and approval for the new owner to increase electricity charges and fees. The high prices we now pay are just taxes the government received upfront at the time of the sale.

Expand full comment