Qld Water Minister Craig Wallace is a real water wally ...

Listen to him babble on here - I'm Minister Wallace and I haven't got a clue about water tanks and rebates.

Excerpt from Courier Mail:

Tank talk drowns in spin on rebates

13 December 2007

The credibility of Craig Wallace's Home WaterWise rebate scheme crumbled under intense questioning yesterday, minutes after he announced changes outside Parliament House.

The Water Minister had just boasted that rainwater tank rebates would increase from $1000 to $1500 for units that hold at least 3000 litres ordered from February 1.

But the catch was that all tanks would now have to be plumbed internally – with costs between $500 and $1500 obliterating his much-vaunted increase.

The same plan forced Brisbane City Council into a backdown earlier this year. But its rebate boost still couldn't stop residents deserting the scheme.

Unperturbed, Mr Wallace refused to let on he was the bearer of bad news as the rapid-fire Parliament debater ignored interjections from the assembled media.

He failed to answer 50-plus questions while he stuck to his script: the scheme is a success, 172,000 tank rebates, almost $200 million given away, mums and dads will be happy.

"This is a real win for people across Queensland," he said.

Asked 26 times how much money the Government would save by making the scheme less attractive, he wouldn't even say – or didn't know – what the rebate budget was.

"We know that this will save water right across Queensland," he repeatedly said. "This is a wonderful success story."

In fact, he was so stubborn with his answers he even ignored questions about why he was ignoring questions. And when he did answer a query – about how much residents would pay to plumb their tank – the reply was devastating.

"I'm not a plumber but I imagine a line from your tank to a washing machine or a toilet system . . .," Mr Wallace said, stopping short as he realised he had started a sentence he didn't want to finish. Well, how much will it cost, minister? "I, ah, I haven't looked into it fully."

But the Master Plumbers Association had, estimating the $500 rebate increase would only cover a "very, very basic installation" with some plumbing costing as much as $1500.

"This is quite ludicrous," MPA executive director Adrian Hart said. "They have no idea whether the industry has the capacity to meet the additional demand of plumbing these because we haven't been consulted at all."

Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney said the disincentive showed there was more interest in saving money than water.

"The minister was sent out with a bad-news message the Premier didn't want to deliver," Mr Seeney said.

Back at Parliament House, Mr Wallace was hitting the eject button and retreating to his office, all the while repeating his mantra about water-savings and mums and dads.

When he reached the front door, he spun on his heel and gave an encore – again.

"It's a wonderful success and please keep applying for your rebates, mums and dads."

See - The Water Minister is a complete wally.

Also see - Bligh blasts Water Minister.