Joanna Gash (Gilmore, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Given that it might take five years to complete the inspections arising from his failed home insulation scandal, is the Prime Minister planning to compensate homeowners whose homes catch fire as a result of faulty or substandard insulation which voids their insurance policies?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gilmore for her question. I know she would have asked it in relation to the concerns of her constituents. The first thing I say in response to the honourable member’s question is that the advice that we have received is that more than 92 per cent of roof inspections have identified no safety issues whatsoever—and that is 92 per cent of a sample partly targeted at identified risk areas. I simply emphasise that point. The second thing I say in response to the honourable member’s question is that the inspection process, which can be activated by concerned members of the public, involves whether the installing company have been reregistered by the government because they are good performers with a good industry track record. Then they would conduct that inspection in the first instance. That is the first point.

Secondly, if under any circumstances a member of the public is unhappy with that company either doing that work or having conducted it found that it is not to their satisfaction, they are open to the recourse of having the government provide a different person to make that check. On the rest of the provisions concerning individual liabilities—

Joanna Gash (Gilmore, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A point of order on relevance, Mr Speaker: I specifically wanted to know about voiding the insurance policies.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Gilmore will resume her seat. The Prime Minister is aware of the question and is responding to the question.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The nature of my response to the honourable member’s question was to put the actual inspection process into its proper context. Secondly, the honourable member asked questions concerning individual households and the applicability of insurance policies. As the honourable member would be familiar with, that would be entirely dependent on the nature of each individual’s circumstances and each individual household.

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I remind some of the people that are making comment—obviously talking to themselves because it would be outside standing orders if they were not doing that—that they have been warned.