If the rumour's true, it would be another mule-stupid but depressingly-unsurprising decision, given the increasingly mule-stupid regulatory regime strangling GA in Australia.
The most common cause of catastrophic piston engine failure is poor manufacture, assembly or maintenance - so called 'infant mortality'.
Once an engine has survived infancy after manufacture or maintenance, the most effective way to prevent catastrophic failure is to have a good engine monitor, know how to use it, know what it's saying and know how to run the engine properly. That will reduce the scope for operator-induced problems and identify trends that can be addressed well in advance of any serious failure.
I'd much prefer flying behind an on-condition engine with an engine monitor, than a new engine without. That's because I'd be safer.
But why bother regulating, maintaining and operating on the basis of objective data and objective risk management? Let's all refuse to fly on-condition engines until the regulator saves us from them.
