❓ Question regarding the impact of the government's water conservation campaign, with the Minister reporting that the campaign has already exceeded its water-saving target. The exchange is marked by significant interjections and Speaker interventions.
AnsweredQoN 109Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WATER CONSERVATION — DAM LEVELS
We have all seen the most recent advertising campaign urging Western Australian households to conserve 60 litres of water per person per day. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : If the member for Cannington wants to ask a question, I will give him the call; likewise, the member for Willagee. I am formally calling the member for Willagee to order for the second time today; and, for the first time, the member for Cannington. Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION
We have all seen the most recent advertising campaign urging Western Australian households to conserve 60 litres of water per person per day. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : If the member for Cannington wants to ask a question, I will give him the call; likewise, the member for Willagee. I am formally calling the member for Willagee to order for the second time today; and, for the first time, the member for Cannington. Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : If the member for Cannington wants to ask a question, I will give him the call; likewise, the member for Willagee. I am formally calling the member for Willagee to order for the second time today; and, for the first time, the member for Cannington. Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
The SPEAKER : If the member for Cannington wants to ask a question, I will give him the call; likewise, the member for Willagee. I am formally calling the member for Willagee to order for the second time today; and, for the first time, the member for Cannington. Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : If the member for Cannington wants to ask a question, I will give him the call; likewise, the member for Willagee. I am formally calling the member for Willagee to order for the second time today; and, for the first time, the member for Cannington. Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
The SPEAKER : If the member for Cannington wants to ask a question, I will give him the call; likewise, the member for Willagee. I am formally calling the member for Willagee to order for the second time today; and, for the first time, the member for Cannington. Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Mr F.A. ALBAN : Thank you, Mr Speaker, I will continue on my very humble water question in the face of the blistering attack from the opposition! It may well be that opposition members do not use 60 litres of water per day and that is where the term “the great unwashed” comes from. Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Could the minister please update the house on the impact of the government’s current campaign to encourage water-saving behaviour by households? Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Mr W.R. MARMION replied: I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
I thank the member for Swan Hills for such a terrific and relevant question. Members on this side of the house are very interested in the answer. I acknowledge that the constituents of the member for Swan Hills are very conscious of water conservation. I know that not only householders but also commercial growers in the member’s electorate are very conscious of water conservation, and that the member for Swan Hills is personally a very strong advocate of water conservation. Let me set the scene. The South West has had the driest winter on record — Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
The SPEAKER : Next time I am asked by a member in this place on either side—I said this yesterday—if they can get more questions in question time, I might just suggest they reflect on some of their behaviour today. Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Mr W.R. MARMION : As I was saying, last year was the driest winter on record in the south west of the state, with only 13 billion litres of water entering our dams; in a typical year we would get 100 billion litres going into our dams. It has been a particularly bad winter and if we have another bad winter this year, there will be serious shortcomings and possible impacts on sprinkler use. Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
Over this summer the Water Corporation has been running a very successful campaign aimed at each householder saving 60 litres of water. This program started on 1 December and is going through to 31 March, and the aim is to save 13 billion litres over that period. I am pleased to report to the house that we managed to save 13 billion litres before the end of February, so we have already reached that target. That is an outstanding achievement by the people of Perth, because it has been a reasonably hot and dry summer—certainly the last four weeks have been. There was some rainfall just before Christmas, which probably helped us reach this target. I can advise the house that, as of today, we have saved 15 billion litres. I have a pie chart to show members. The area in dark blue is the water that is available in our dams. The light blue triangle indicates what we have managed to save by people conserving water over summer, and the orange segment indicates the run-off that we need in our dams this winter. However, because we managed to save 15 billion litres, we need to get only 61 billion litres in our dams this winter. That should be easy! I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
I conclude by congratulating the people of Western Australia, particularly those in the metropolitan area, for their diligence and for listening to the advertising campaign and turning sprinklers off or reducing the running time of their sprinklers, having shorter showers and also taking up our wonderful showerhead strategy, in which 74 000 showerheads are available for consumers to reduce their water usage. This has been a very successful campaign and hopefully the changes in the behaviour of the people of Western Australia will be translated through this winter and ensuing summers.
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