Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts exactly how many homes in my electorate of Forrest are at risk because of the absolute debacle of the failed, rushed and bungled Home Insulation Program. I have written to the minister asking this very question and, until the minister responds, I am encouraging people in my electorate to contact the hotline to find out whether they are at risk and what precautionary steps they should take in the meantime.

The minister must let my local communities know just how many families and homes are at risk. The Rudd government was, unfortunately, more interested in spending money and simply shovelling it out the door than in ensuring public safety with this scheme. We have all heard the Minister for Finance and Deregulation state that the government was in fact so busy shovelling the money out the door that it did not have time to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on the program. And what has been the result of that incompetence? Tragically, four young Australian installers have died; in excess of 93 house fires have now been directly attributed—not indirectly but directly—to the faulty installation of roof insulation; and up to 240,000 homes have either unsafe or substandard insulation. That is according to Minister Garrett’s own department. The minister must also tell people in my electorate when the inspections of their homes will be completed so that they can sleep at night and go to work in the day knowing that their homes are safe and, if they are there, that their families are safe.

I have a letter here from one of the installers in my electorate—one of the reputable, qualified and quality tradespeople who have been very seriously damaged by the minister’s program and the shonky operators it attracted. I quote from his letter:

After having completed approximately 140 homes, it disappoints me that these jobs have never been checked over—I welcome this at any time! Random checks should be done!

He went on to say:

The government allows the import of foreign insulation which defeats the Stimulus Package intent. There are six jobs I know of that have had the insulation bats ripped into 1/3 thickness, mass areas in ceilings not even insulated and all jobs billed out at the same rate. The Government has helped to create a dishonest society.

And—I would add—on borrowed money having to be repaid by Australian taxpayers.

I note that in today’s newspapers there is a reference to a potential $100 million bill on top of the program itself. The same registered installer was recently advised that, in spite of filling out all the requisite forms previously and having done 140 installations without problem and supplying trade certificates, he suddenly was deregistered by the department, then notified two days later that he had been re-registered. The minister is responsible for this department. We know that Minister Garrett received warning after warning—at least 19 warnings, including the Minter Ellison report exposing deep concerns in April 2009. This report warned him of fire, fraud and quality risks. But the minister claims he did not know about the contents of this report until recently. It absolutely beggars belief that his departmental briefings did not include these warnings. I suspect that evidence at the Senate inquiry will prove this. The Labor Prime Minister’s own department was warned directly in February 2009—a year ago—but the Prime Minister has also said he did not know about the warnings either.

As I said, we know that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts received at least 19 warnings over safety. There have been four tragic deaths of young people, and thousands and thousands of Australians are still at potential risk. There are safety concerns for at least 80,000 homes and possibly for as many as 255,000 homes. I want to know, and so do people in my electorate: how many of these are in my electorate? Which homes are they? Are they in Bunbury, are they in Busselton, are they in Augusta, are they in Margaret River, are they in Collie—who is it? The government website says:

The Australian Government’s Home Insulation Program and Solar Hot Water Rebate have been discontinued as of close of business Friday 19 February 2010.

For reputable, qualified installers and manufacturers and for good businesses in my electorate, this simply adds to the problems that this program has already created. Once again, I call on the minister to let people in my electorate know just who is affected—which homes—and what precautions they need to take. (Time expired)