Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage, I present the committee’s report entitled Managing the flow: regulating plumbing product quality, together with the minutes of proceedings.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—On Monday I tabled the committee’s report entitled Sustainability for survival: creating a climate for change: inquiry into a sustainability charter, which explores the concept of a national charter for sustainability. However, rather than resting on its laurels, as that inquiry drew to a close the committee took on another inquiry into the regulatory arrangements for the control of plumbing product quality in Australia.

This has been a short and focused inquiry into a matter of considerable significance to the Australian community. The committee strongly believes that a failure to adequately control the manufacture, importation, sale and installation of plumbing products could have serious public health and environmental implications. The regulatory arrangements in place for controlling plumbing product quality reflect the level of risk that governments are prepared to take with drinking water supplies and sewage collection.

Cases such as the SARS outbreak at Amoy Gardens, in 2000, reinforce why we need to be vigilant about controlling plumbing product quality. During the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, the failure of plumbing products that were part of the sewerage system at a residential complex contributed to the further spread of the disease. The committee felt that safeguarding public health and conserving precious water resources in this period of persistent drought are too important to be left to the mercy of the complicated nexus of national and state based arrangements that currently prevail. During the inquiry, it became clear to the committee that there is a pressing need for improvements to be made to the cohesion, consistency, understanding and enforcement of the current regulatory arrangements for controlling plumbing product quality.

The report discusses some of the deficiencies identified in the current arrangements, including the need for more effective enforcement of mandatory schemes, stricter point-of-sale requirements for a range of plumbing products and better communication with industry and community stakeholders. In particular, the committee felt that the lack of coordination between state and territory jurisdictions and, indeed, between the two national mandatory schemes—WELS and WaterMark Certification—is a problem for industry, consumers and the Australian community.

The committee believes there are a number of actions that the Australian government and industry can and should take to improve the way in which plumbing product quality is managed in Australia. Accordingly, the committee makes five recommendations in this report, aimed at improving the coordination between jurisdictions and the two national schemes, establishing minimum water efficiency standards for plumbing products under the WELS scheme and improving the effectiveness of enforcement practices for the national WELS and WaterMark Certification schemes. I commend the report to the House.

Duncan Kerr (Denison, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Firstly, I acknowledge the profoundly enthusiastic and excellent work which has been done by this committee, led by the member for Moore, but also by the deputy chair, the member for Throsby, who has worked in a most cooperative way with the chair to ensure that some very large tasks undertaken by this committee have been completed within the life of this parliament.

This report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage was produced at short notice. There was some scepticism that a report of worth could be generated in the short time that was available. I also had some scepticism when the reference was first presented to us. It is a mark not only of the work of the committee and the secretariat but also of the excellent submissions that were provided to us and the roundtable discussions that we were permitted to achieve the consolidation of this report in the short time available.

This is a narrowly focused but, I think, entirely worthy use of parliamentary time. There is a very practical side to this report. Currently, consumers have two national accreditation schemes for plumbing and water delivery systems, but they do not interrelate well. We heard evidence from the Institute of Plumbing Australia that there is an anomalous situation whereby you can purchase a product which has the WELS label—which, on its face, appears to be a national certification mark, stating that the product is efficient and appropriate for sale—but a licensed plumber may refuse to instal that product if it is not also WaterMark certified. As the evidence presented to us indicated, not unnaturally this upsets people who may undertake illegal methods of installation and, as the institute indicated, above all it brings what could be a major contributor to water conservation—the WELS scheme—into disrepute.

The five recommendations of the committee are entirely practical. They demonstrate the effective working of this parliament when it establishes committees whose memberships work in a harmonious way. That is not always the case in this parliament. There are some committees for which that has been a less marked characteristic, but this particular committee has always enjoyed, throughout the life of this parliament, a very congenial working relationship between its members. This report simply builds on the work of the committee over the life of this parliament. It is a tribute both to the member for Throsby and the member for Moore that benchmarks are now established in key environmental areas that will be and ought be the foundation for the work of the next parliament when it comes to grips with some of the more complicated issues which the committee have been addressing throughout the life of the present chamber. I thank the member for Moore and also the House for its indulgence.

Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Denison for his kind remarks and I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.