Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Special Minister of State and Scrutiny of Government Waste) Share this | Hansard source

The article in the Colac Herald is headed ‘Insulation woes hurt reputation’ and there is a photograph of Darren Pyne with the Liberal candidate for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson. The photograph is captioned ‘ANGER’ and there was absolute anger, I can assure you, Mr Acting Deputy President, from Mr Pyne. Mr Pyne runs a business called WestVic Kitchens. As the article says, he:

… fears the demise of a national insulation scheme has tarnished his business reputation.

       …         …         …

‘I have been working on my reputation for 20 years, my family and kids are all here, it is all I know,’ he said.

The article went on to say:

The Federal Government made an overnight decision on February 19 to stop and insulation rebate scheme immediately after four deaths of installers and about 90 insulation-related house fires.

Mr Pyne said the government still owed him $80,000 in rebates.

The article went on to say:

Mr Pyne said the program axing forced him to sack 10 contract workers.

He said he felt for the staff who fired, two of which he said were ‘struggling to cope’ with the news.

He went on to say that this program was ‘poorly managed’. Here we have in Colac, in the heart of the seat of Corangamite, a long-term resident of the area, Mr Darren Pyne of WestVic Kitchens, who has said quite clearly that the program, which was axed because of the systemic failure of good policy, has dramatically impacted his business. I ask the question: where has Mr Cheeseman been in relation to this matter? Where has Mr Cheeseman been to address this issue? Why isn’t Mr Cheeseman standing up and saying to the government, ‘This program is costing my constituents’? He is missing in action. This man is always missing in action when it comes to the people of Corangamite.

This is a terrible, terrible program with terrible, terrible consequences. Even with a new minister in there, we are no closer to resolution. You look at the former Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts and you wonder why Mr Rudd did not sack him. Mr Acting Deputy President, I will tell you why: Mr Rudd and his minister were working on this together, and Mr Rudd went out and told his minister, Minister Garrett, that this is what they were going to do. That is why he has not been sacked. The Prime Minister knows that Mr Garrett is going to spill the beans on this. The Prime Minister knows that Mr Garrett was told by him, the micro-manager of this country, to go and do it. Mr Garrett has not been sacked because the Prime Minister knows full well that the beans will be spilled.

The Prime Minister is directly responsible for this program. Mr Darren Cheeseman, as the member for Corangamite, has got to start standing up for his constituents. He has about six months left, and we cannot wait to see Ms Sarah Henderson as the member for Corangamite. (Time expired)