House debates Questions without Notice
Home Insulation Program
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
3:01 pm
My question is again to the Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister has informed the House that Minister Garrett informed him of problems with the Home Insulation Program by letter of 14 August, did he warn in that letter of fire, fraud or safety issues, and will the Prime Minister now release that letter? Further, isn’t this why the Prime Minister will not sack Minister Garrett: because the buck stops with the Prime Minister?
Kevin Rudd Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. He refers to the then minister’s letter to me of 14 August—
Greg Hunt Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage
He’s still a minister.
Kevin Rudd Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
The then minister responsible for this program. In response to the honourable Leader of the Opposition’s question, I received a letter from the minister, in relation to the Home Insulation Program, proposing increased compliance requirements for the program. On 17 August the relevant cabinet committee considered these compliance matters raised by the minister in his 14 August letter.
Kevin Andrews Menzies, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Families, Housing and Human Services
Yeah, we know that.
Kevin Rudd Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
That is the question the Leader of the Opposition asked. These contained the following elements: (1) physical site inspections prior to giving quotes; (2) increased inspections and scrutiny of trainer qualifications—which goes directly to safety considerations—
Tony Abbott Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition
I raise a point of order on relevance, Mr Speaker. Did that letter warn of safety problems, and will the Prime Minister release the letter?
Kevin Rudd Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister
In answering the Leader of the Opposition’s question: this correspondence dealt also with, secondly, increased inspections and scrutiny of trainer qualifications; thirdly, increased compliance; and, fourthly, processes for suspending and deregistering non-compliant installers. I would say to the Leader of the Opposition that the relevance of training standards and the relevance of the inspections regime go directly to the question of overall safety considerations associated with the program. Can I say to the Leader of the Opposition, both in relation to these matters and to the cabinet documents that I referred to before, that these obviously are associated with the cabinet process and will be appropriately protected.