Opinion Piece | 11 August 2026
Peter Rundle MLA
Shadow Minister for Water
Water security is one of the most important long-term challenges facing Western Australia, and it will only become more critical as our population, economy and industries continue to grow.
Yet after almost a decade in government, Labor’s management of the water portfolio has left Western Australia increasingly exposed to ageing infrastructure, growing demand and emerging risks to our future water supply.
As Shadow Minister for Water, I take those challenges seriously. I only wish the Cook Labor Government would demonstrate the same urgency.
The latest Cabinet reshuffle has delivered yet another Minister for Water. But changing the name on the office door will not change the problems confronting Western Australia.
Daniel Pastorelli inherits a portfolio under considerable pressure: parts of Perth’s water and sewerage network are more than 70 years old, regional pipelines continue to fail, Water Corporation workers are taking industrial action, and questions remain about whether the agencies responsible for managing our water resources have the capacity and resources needed for the task ahead.
After growing public concern about the management of the portfolio, the Government was right to recognise that a change was needed. The real test is whether the new Minister will be given the authority, resources and determination to change course — or whether Labor intends to continue with more of the same.
Water Corporation workers say they are overstretched and undervalued. Concerns have been raised about the condition and future requirements of critical infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is being asked to manage increasingly complex pressures around water licensing, groundwater allocations and declining water availability.
The people working in these organisations continue to do their best. The failure has been political: Labor has not delivered the long-term planning, investment and infrastructure program required to keep pace with Western Australia’s growth.
That lack of priority was evident again in the recent State Budget.
Regional water programs were cut, including funding for rural water planning, the WaterSmart Farms initiative and water carting programs. At the same time, the Government allocated just $41 million across regional Western Australia for water and wastewater infrastructure to unlock housing, and $25 million for regional water infrastructure.
For a Government entering its tenth year in office, it is simply not good enough.
Across regional Western Australia, communities continue to face water shortages, ageing pipelines and constraints on housing and economic development because basic water infrastructure has not kept pace.
Too often, Labor’s approach has been reactive — responding when pipes fail, supplies run short or development stalls — rather than investing early enough to prevent those problems occurring in the first place.
And the pressures are only increasing.
Population growth, expanding industry, greater demand on groundwater, increasing reliance on desalination and the rapid development of AI-driven data centres will all add to Western Australia’s future water requirements.
Artificial intelligence presents significant economic opportunities for our State, but those opportunities cannot come at the expense of household, agricultural or industrial water security.
Data centres can be significant users of water, particularly for cooling, and as demand for AI infrastructure grows, governments need to understand and plan for its cumulative impact on water supplies.
Yet significant questions remain about how water use by data centres will be assessed and regulated at both a State and Federal level.
The Federal Government’s National AI Plan provides insufficient guidance on the water implications of large-scale data-centre development. The question is no longer whether Western Australia will attract more of these projects, but whether the Cook Labor Government is properly planning for their impact before they arrive.
Local governments are already beginning to grapple with these issues. The City of Stirling is considering stronger planning controls for data centres, including whether they should be treated as a prohibited use in some circumstances, amid concerns about residential amenity and pressure on local resources.
Western Australia should not wait until individual communities are forced to confront these challenges development by development.
Water security must be embedded in the State’s long-term economic, industrial and land-use planning, supported by stronger policy, greater transparency and genuinely integrated management of our water resources.
Desalination will undoubtedly play an important role in Western Australia’s future, but it cannot be the only answer.
We must also expand wastewater recycling, protect groundwater resources, strengthen water licensing and compliance, and accelerate the maintenance and replacement of ageing infrastructure — particularly in regional communities where a single pipeline failure can have enormous consequences.
Most importantly, government must start planning ahead of demand rather than chasing it.
Western Australians deserve confidence that the water they rely on — for their homes, farms, businesses and communities — is being secured not just for today, but for the decades ahead.
Daniel Pastorelli has inherited the consequences of almost a decade of Labor’s management of this portfolio. He also has an opportunity to change direction.
A new Minister will only matter if there is a new approach.
The question now is whether the Cook Labor Government is finally prepared to give Western Australia’s water security the priority it deserves.
ENDS
