Home›Questions on Notice›QoN 4208

❓ Hon Adele Farina inquired about government testing of Bunbury sewerage for methamphetamine. The WA Police, in association with the Water Corporation and the University of South Australia, have been conducting bi-monthly testing since November 2015, with results indicating varying levels of methamphetamine consumption.

AnsweredQoN 4208Legislative Council

Asked

30 June 2016

Member

Hon Adele Farina

Portfolio

Police

QuestionView source ↗

(1) Has the Government undertaken testing of Bunbury sewerage to detect the presence of methamphetamine? (2) If yes to (1): (a) when was the testing undertaken; (b) what was the results of the testing; and (c) if the Minister will not release the results at this time, when will the Minister release the test results?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

8 September 2016

Responded by

Attorney General representing the Minister for Police

Response time

70 days

WA Police advise: 1. The WA Police, in association with the Water Corporation, have conducted testing on the Bunbury wastewater treatment plant to analyse methamphetamine consumption. These tests and associated reports are conducted by the University of South Australia. 2.(a) The first reported test was completed in November 2015, and bi-monthly thereafter. (b) In November 2015, the tested Bunbury population of 41,856 consumed 0.78 kg of methamphetamine over the tested week, at a purity of 68.5%. 7th January 2016, the weekly consumption was 0.80 kg, March 2016 was 0.99 kg and May 2016 0.79 kg. It is important to note, most cities have not been consistently tested to the same degree and standard, and the Australian Crime Intelligence Commission (ACIC) Australian testing regime should establish if this is still the case. (c) The Minister issued a media release outlining this information on Monday 1 August 2016.

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