Water Rebates Flow To The Wealthy

The Sunday Age

Sunday January 18, 2009

Michael Bachelard

The big money is going to the well-off to keep their gardens green, not to cut water use in the home as the rebates were intended, writes Michael Bachelard.

STATE Government water savings rebates are being claimed by well-off middle-class people living in leafy eastern and north-eastern suburbs. Overwhelmingly, they are used to keep gardens green.

Official figures obtained by The Sunday Age show a tiny number of people claim the Government's preferred $1000 rebate for using tank water for toilets and laundries. Instead, most claim the smaller rebate of $150 for a tank that is not connected inside the house and who pour the water saved onto their larger-than-average gardens.

Critics say the water rebate policy, which costs more than $5 million a year, gives the State Government a patina of environmental respectability but actually serves as middle-class welfare.

But the Government defends the scheme as "an excellent way for households right across Victoria to save water as well as providing a solution to water restrictions".

Victoria offers 12 water saving rebates, valued from $10 to $1000. Rebates, particularly the larger ones, are skewed towards higher-income people because they can afford the original purchase price of expensive items such as water tanks and grey water systems. Government figures show that the larger rebates go overwhelmingly to suburbs such as Eltham, Templestowe, Northcote, Blackburn, Camberwell, Glen Iris and Glen Waverley.

Energy rebates for ceiling insulation and solar hot water are also most often claimed by people living in high-income suburbs with a high proportion of professionals, such as Clifton Hill, Yarraville and Brunswick.

However, the figures show residents of poorer suburbs such as Springvale, Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Frankston are claiming the smaller rebates, such as $10 to $20 for shower roses and $50 for dual-flush toilets.

The manager of policy research at St Vincent de Paul, Gavin Dufty, said rebates were worse than just middle-class welfare - they actually disadvantaged poorer people.

"These are subsidies for the middle class that are ultimately funded by low-wealth, low-income households," he said.

According to the Essential Services Commission, the government regulator of water and power utilities, falling demand for water will be the second biggest contributor to increased water prices in Victoria in coming years.

Mr Dufty said that as wealthier people could afford, with Government help, to opt out of using mains water while maintaining the quality of their home, the burden of the cost of new public water infrastructure would increasingly be borne by the poor.

Institute of Public Affairs executive director John Roskam said subsidising water tanks was "another form of middle-class welfare that is expensive, ineffective, and avoids the broader issue, which is the lack of planning for essential services like water".

But demographer Bernard Salt said he had no problem with rebates that favoured the relatively well off, because those people had more investment in their home and garden remaining beautiful.

"I think it's legitimate. It's an investment in retaining middle-Melbourne's Garden State lifestyle. We are green, verdant ... a great deal of our culture is invested in suburban gardens," he said.

By far the most popular rebate scheme is the $30 to buy items worth more than $100 from a basket of water-saving goods. Items include garden mulch, wetting agents and compost bins.

Residents of Eltham were the most enthusiastic per capita adopters of this rebate, with more than 12 per cent of households making a claim, followed by Camberwell, Greensborough, Glen Waverley, and Rosanna.

Water tank rebates were also popular, with more than 25,000 claims being lodged, mostly in north-eastern and eastern suburbs. But most tanks, 22,000, were not plumbed in for household use in toilets and laundries. Plumbed tanks attract a rebate of up to $1000 and tanks used just on gardens or a swimming pool get only $150.

Eltham plumber Dean Fitzsimons said he worked on tank projects that cost homeowners anything from $3000 to $15,000. The $1000 rebate was "bugger all".

"A lot of people only do tanks for irrigation because their gardens are burning up," Mr Fitzsimons said.

"Sometimes you do houses where there are water tanks and a pump run to a toilet."

WHAT YOU CAN CLAIM

Rebate amount and total number paid

WATER REBATES

- 5000-litre plus water tank connected to toilet AND laundry: $1000*

- 5000 litre plus water tank connected to toilet OR laundry: $900*

- 2000 to 4999 litre water tank connected to toilet OR laundry: $500

Total number paid: 3606

Under 2000 litre water tank connected to toilet and/or laundry: $150 1356

Any water tank unconnected to house: $150 22,208

Greywater systems: $500 1974

Spend $100 or more on water saving devices, e.g. mulch, compost bin, drip watering system: $30 71,325

Shower roses: $10 to $20 8369

Water audit: $50 6616

Dual flush toilet: $50 11,067

Hot water recirculator (puts cold water in pipes back to hot water system): $150 45

ENERGY REBATES

Ceiling insulation: $300 to $500 1578

SOLAR HOT WATER

Metropolitan: $900 to $1500 350**

Regional: $1900 to $2500 1560**

MUST BE INSTALLED BY A LICENSED PLUMBER

**BETWEEN JUNE 2008 AND SEPTEMBER 2008 FOR FULL TABLE OF REBATES GO TO WWW.THEAGE.COM.AU

© 2009 The Sunday Age

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