Chucking Sydney Water and Hunter Water in the NSW constitution does not go far enough and leaves out a fifth of the population, the state opposition says.
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Adding the two water utilities to the NSW constitution was a key election promise of the Labor government and the first piece of legislation moved by Premier Chris Minns this month.
It will protect future governments privatising the state assets, Labor says, having warned it was next on the coalition's chopping block.
The coalition dubbed the promise an election scare campaign, only to change tact on Tuesday and put up an amendment to have all water utilities added to the constitution.
"It discriminates against the 1.85 million people who obtain their water from water utilities other than Sydney Water and Hunter Water," Nationals MP Steph Cooke told parliament.
"Failure to include other utilities leaves us wondering about the NSW Labor government's agenda in relation to the future privatisation of WaterNSW and the 89 local water utilities across regional, rural, and remote NSW."
WaterNSW owns bulk water assets such as Warragamba Dam and supplies two-thirds of water used in the state.
The amendment does not have the support of the government or the Greens.
The government's rental reforms hit a snag on Tuesday after the Greens' persistent calls for tougher measures paid off.
The Minns government's bill would crack down on secret rental bidding and create a portable bond scheme to ease pressure on renters.
But it's now off to a lower house standing committee for an inquiry after negotiations with the crossbench broke down.
Changes to first-home buyer taxation are destined to succeed, however.
The government secured support from the Greens and independent MP Alex Greenwich, with the reforms likely to pass next week.
Labor's changes would increase exemptions on stamp duty for first-home buyers, up from a previous cap of $650,000 to $800,000, and allow concessions on homes up to $1 million.
Access to the Perrottet government's stamp-duty-or-land-tax scheme would also be switched off for all first-home buyers who bought from July 1.
Australian Associated Press
