House debates Questions without Notice
Home Insulation Program
Greg Hunt Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage
2:00 pm
My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. I refer the minister to his department’s evidence that, as at 15 February this year, 65 briefings were provided to the minister’s office on the Home Insulation Program. Did any of these briefings raise the Minter Ellison or other safety reports? How many more briefings would the minister have required to realise there was a serious problem with his disastrous home insulation scheme?
Peter Garrett Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
I thank the honourable member for his question. I can say to the House that in terms of briefs received by me and of the number in question, I am not going to approximate an absolute recall at this point in time. I am sure the member will understand that. I can say that the risk assessment process informed by Minter Ellison and a number of other assessments undertaken by the department were constituted in those briefs, as was advice on matters that had been raised and identified in terms of risk, and I responded accordingly.