David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the answers given in response to questions from Senator Troeth and Senator Back. Senator Birmingham has just detailed for us a number of questions to which he does not know the answers, but let me perhaps mention some to which he does know the answer. When we look at the stimulus package and its effect more generally on the Australian economy, we do know that it achieved a number of very important outcomes. We know that Australia did not have a recession. We know that there were not two quarters of negative growth in this country. We know that the economy has continued to have strong employment and a strong employment outlook. We know that there are low interest rates and that the interest rate outlook continues to be strong. We know that Australia’s four top banks are now amongst the top 10 in the world in terms of their security and standing. We know that Australia continues to have a very strong economic future. We know that that future was underpinned by the stimulus package, and we know that that stimulus package saved the Australian economy during a period of extraordinary uncertainty. Those are things we do know.

Senator Birmingham has talked about the Home Insulation Program. This government has acknowledged and accepted responsibility for the failings of that program. But context is everything. In an environment where the government was required to get as much of the stimulus package into the economy and into the community as possible and for it to be working immediately, we understood that to be extremely necessary. It is in that context that we find the Home Insulation Program has hit these unfortunate problems. Those are problems that Senator Birmingham has detailed for us. But let us remember that, when he looks at the roll call of the failings of this program and, most tragically, the lives lost and of course the homes that have been destroyed too, there is one thing we must all remember, and that is that those dreadful events, those dreadful happenings, were not enabled by government guidelines or government laws but rather by people flouting those laws and guidelines. They were flouted by individual companies and by individual shonks.

The integrity of this scheme was destroyed by a small number of operators who, to everyone’s regret, have successfully destroyed the integrity of this program. They have undermined community confidence in it and also the capacity of it to go forward. That is why Minister Garrett has, on several occasions, sought changes and improvements to and further strengthening of the guidelines that governed this program and that is why, despite those improvements, he finally recommended to the government that the scheme be discontinued. Minister Garrett made that recommendation because he appreciated the fact that the scheme’s integrity had been undermined beyond repair and that it needed to be discontinued. Of course, it will re-emerge with new guidelines in due course.

But when we consider those events—obviously events that were not welcomed or appreciated by anybody in this chamber, least of all the government—let us remember what the opposition are doing. The opposition are complaining about a danger to jobs they never wanted saved in the first place. The opposition are complaining about an investment they never wanted made in the first place. They are shedding crocodile tears for an industry and for a suite of employees who they sought never to exist in the first place.

When we look at what is to happen to the workers in this industry we can see that the government has already announced a $41 million adjustment package. That is a $41 million contribution to assisting workers who have been made redundant and perhaps lost their jobs during this time. But again I make the point: they are workers who those opposite sought to have never employed in the first place. Businesses and jobs have grown extraordinarily over the past 12 months under the stimulus package and the Home Insulation Program. Those opposite now wail about the inventory costs of these businesses and the fact that these businesses have invested so dramatically in the Home Insulation Program. We on this side understand that there are a lot of strong, legitimate and longstanding businesses in this space, businesses those opposite did not care about until some weeks ago. But we on this side have understood for a long time that those businesses have real and legitimate problems and we will do everything practicable to assist them. Those 23 pages of the ministerial statement that Senator Birmingham referred to includes important comments from this government, important commitments from this government— (Time expired)