17 May 2006
AUDIT FINDS WATERWISE REBATE PROGRAM HAS ACHIEVED SOME SUCCESS, THOUGH
THE EXTENT IS UNCLEAR
The Government’s Waterwise Rebate Program, launched in 2003, to
encourage Western Australians to use water more efficiently, has achieved
water savings – though just how much, and the cost of the water
saved, is open to question.
An audit of the rebate program, by WA Auditor General Des Pearson, has
questioned the key assumption used to calculate the savings and found
that public statements from various government sources have overstated
the extent of those savings.
The findings of the audit of the Waterwise initiative, which to date
has paid out 225,000 rebates on 13 different water savings products to
almost 190,000 households and at cost of $26 million, are detailed in
Mr Pearson’s first Public Sector Performance Report for 2006, tabled
in Parliament today.
The report’s findings included:
- The Water Corporation has not established whether the rebate program
has made Western Australians more conservative in their use of water; however
the Corporation has been effective in making the public aware of the program
with 87% of surveyed respondents advising that they knew of the program.
- Public statements had overstated the amount of water saved through
the rebate program, with estimated savings based on the assumption that
persons who purchased a water saving device and received a rebate only
purchased the product because of the rebate – it does not reflect
those persons who would have purchased the product anyway.
- The cost of water saved is difficult to estimate because of the
unreliable key assumption, but analysis by the Auditor General suggests
that the rebate program is cost-effective relative to new water sources
such as desalination.
- The rebate program lacks specific goals and targets which would
give a clearer picture of how successful it was, enable a more focused
delivery of available funds, and clarify the purpose and success of
those types of rebate that have a very low uptake or that do not appear to be
cost effective.
- A review of past reports from the Water Corporation
to the State Water Council indicated a need to improve the information
provided and for more evidentiary support for any changes to the program.
- Public
uptake of the Waterwise rebates has varied considerably amongst the
13 products – uptake has been very high for several
of the products but for seven of the products the projected and actual
uptake has been so low as to make them almost inconsequential to the
success of the program.
- Two products, water saving washing machines
and soil wetting agents have been particularly popular with the public,
accounting for nearly 80% of the number of rebates paid (washing machines
made up 75%, or $19.4 million, of the total values of rebates).
- Garden
bores have made up just 6% of rebates but approximately 60% of the
estimated total water saved.
Also included in the first Public Sector Performance Report are the
results of an audit of the regulation of animal feedstuffs, hormonal
growth promotants, and veterinary chemicals.
Key findings included:
- Feedstuffs and hormone growth promotants (HGP) are regulated by
the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) in accordance with legislation
and national guidelines; with almost its entire activity in this area
is focused on managing Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or ‘Mad
Cow’ disease and the balance of activity focused on the regulation
of HGP in beef cattle.
- DAFWA does not have a response plan in the event
that feedstuffs contaminated with Restricted Animal Material (any material
that contains tissue from an animal and the cause of BSE) are fed to
ruminants (for example, cattle, buffalo, deer, sheep) – a national
body with DAFWA representatives has been established to address this
matter but the date of completion is unknown.
- WA has not had ‘control
of use’ regulations for managing
veterinary chemicals since 1995 and in the absence of regulations any
licensed veterinary chemical can be used in WA for practically any
purpose – without ‘control
of use’ regulations DAFWA has no control over the inappropriate
use of veterinary chemicals.
Ends/.
Media Contact: Peter Villiers,
Manager Reporting and Communications
Tel: (08) 9222 7558. Mobile:
0417 936 171 Fax: (08) 9322 5664
4th Floor Dumas House 2 Havelock
Street West Perth
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