Inside the secret plan to sell a major Australian water plant to a company owned by the Chinese Communist Party
- Sydney’s water plant is run by a Chinese company
- The plant serves more than one million people in Sydney
- The NSW government is seeking private financing for the plant
A key Sydney water plant is being run by a Chinese government-owned company, leaked documents have revealed.
The Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Center at Kemps Creek in western Sydney is being run by a company called Trility, owned by the Chinese Communist Party’s Beijing Water Group of Companies.
The plant, which serves more than a million people in Sydney, will be run by Trility for five years, with an option for another five years after that.
According to the plan, its management was contracted out shortly after the NSW Government commissioned companies Clayton Utz and KPMG to study the privatization of the water plant.
The documents also claim that the NSW government is exploring alternative financing models for the waterworks, including private sector investors.
The Upper South Creek Advanced Water Recycling Center at Kemps Creek in western Sydney is being run by a company called Trility, which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
Trility is owned by the Beijing Enterprises Water Group of the Chinese Communist Party
The decision at the plant is also believed to be likely to shape the long-term structure of water services in Australia.
Chris O’Keefe, who revealed the confidential documents on his 2GB show, described the management of the waterworks as “concerning”.
“This is not about an apartment block or commercial property, we are talking about our water,” he said.
‘If we were to push back the Chinese government to buy our poles and cables, and ban Huawei from participating in our telecommunications network, then how the hell did it happen that a company with such important ties as the Beijing water company group with the Chinese Communist Party?
‘How come they are allowed to operate critical water plants in the Sydney Basin?
“This is a day when we are spending more than $300 billion to combat the influence of the Chinese government in our region. And then, right under our noses, the Perrottet government sold the operation of parts of our water network to a company owned by the Chinese Communist Party.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet insisted in February that his party had no plans to privatize water.
They must be kidding.
The leaked documents come despite New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet insisting in February that his party had no plans to privatize water.
‘We have no plans in relation to Sydney Water. I have made that very clear every step of the way.
“Workers come back to form, that’s exactly what they do at every election – run scare campaigns and try to scare communities in NSW,” he said.