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NSW Treasurer Matt Kean insists Sydney Water won't be sold off despite leaked documents revealing the government had sought advice on the sale of the utility as it looked to fund infrastructure projects.
The coalition sought feedback on the viability of offloading Sydney Water as it considered upgrading water infrastructure in the city's west, according to documents seen by AAP.
"Shareholders have shown a preference for maintaining or increasing returns to government and asset recycling," a board-level briefing note generated by the state-owned utility said.
Asset recycling is the sale of public assets to return cash to the state and has previously been employed in NSW when the Baird coalition government sold off power utility assets.
The advice, prepared in February 2021 when Premier Dominic Perrottet was treasurer, outlines five options for Sydney Water including a full sale or partial sale, managing the assets as they were, or the introduction of developer charges.
Ten days out from the March 25 election, privatisation has sharpened as a key voter issue, despite both major parties vowing not to sell public assets in the next term of government.
"There's no privatisation of Sydney Water and there is no privatisation of Sydney Water assets. We've already made that very clear," Mr Kean told reporters on Wednesday.
"It's not unusual that Sydney Water uses contractors that work for them," he added while accusing Labor of running a "scare campaign".
