❓ Hon Michelle Hofmann questions the Minister for Water regarding Coca-Cola's groundwater access in the Perth Hills and the regulatory framework for groundwater extraction. The Minister confirms action has been taken but declines to review the regulatory framework.

I refer to my QON No. 290 dated 28 May 2025 and the article I referred to titled “Coca-Cola's free access to Perth Hills groundwater for bottled water to be reassessed by minister”. In that article then Minister for Water Simone McGurk is quoted to say “In the first instance, we will be talking to Coca-Cola to say to them, 'Look, the last time you made an application for this was about 30 years ago. We think it's time to revisit this“, and I ask:(a) has the Minister taken any action to revisit Coca-Cola’s access to groundwater in the Perth Hills;(b) if yes to (a), what action has been taken;(c) is the Minister reviewing the regulatory framework that currently allows companies to extract groundwater without charge in some circumstances; and(d) if no to (c), will the Minister commit to reviewing the regulatory framework to address this significant issue?

(a)   Yes (b)  The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Department) has worked with the Australian Beverages Council Ltd (ABCL), commercial water bottling operators and local governments and the following outcomes have been achieved: ·       ABCL commercial water bottling members implemented metering of all water abstracted from bores used for water bottling purposes. ·       On 5 June 2025, Coca Cola advised the Department that it had voluntarily suspended groundwater abstraction from the Karragullen site. ·       The ABCL submitted the independently audited report Responsible use of groundwater to the Department on 6 March 2026 and published an interactive online map for the public to view aggregate groundwater abstraction data. The report was prepared by the University of Western Australia and has been published on the ABCL website. ·       The Department continues supporting local governments to strengthen oversight of water bottling activities and provides technical advice through the development approvals processes under the Planning and Development Act 2005 . ·       The Department published a community webpage to provide information regarding water bottling operations in Western Australia. (c)   No. (d)   No.