Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In January this year Ms Rosemary O’Donnell of Mooroopna, a 64-year-old pensioner, had insulation installed in her ceiling under the commonly called pink batts program. She says she had been bullied by a company called Spiffing Solutions. They said she really needed to take advantage of the free government program, so the insulation was installed. Just four days later her ceiling collapsed. This was extremely distressing, as you could imagine, for Ms O’Donnell. Massive damage was done to her furniture inside and she had fibreglass all throughout her home. She also had electrical equipment damaged.

She immediately contacted Spiffing Solutions, who within a few days sent some of their friends, as they call them, to fix the damage to her house. She described them as shoddy and unprofessional. She said they in fact did more damage than the original ceiling collapse. Ms O’Donnell is a recovering stroke victim. She is also suffering from very serious ongoing health issues. She has very limited financial means. Unfortunately, whilst trying to shift this heavy furniture around, because it was covered in fibreglass from the ceiling collapse, she injured her left knee and has had to undergo surgery.

She desperately wants an inspection of her home. She is terrified that more of the ceiling is going to collapse. She has been in touch with the hotline. Of course they said, ‘Not a problem. Within 24 hours we’ll come and inspect your home.’ I wrote to the minister assisting the minister at the time, the Hon. Greg Combet—that was back in March—and said, ‘Will you please attend to this woman’s problem. She needs an inspection of her property urgently.’ Some five months later I got a reply from the Hon. Greg Combet, and he said, ‘Look, I understand when contacted by the department in April Ms O’Donnell advised that she no longer required a safety inspection as all necessary rectification work had been completed.’ Unfortunately, Ms O’Donnell is still most anxious for an inspection. Her home, she suspects, is still very unsafe with regard to the ceiling staying in place. She has lost a lot of her furniture.

There is a bill here worked out by Bay Building Services for the insurance company which puts the cost at $14,481.50, which includes new curtains, new carpet, new furniture, cleaning and air conditioning, fixing up ceiling fans and lights, reconnection fees and so on. She does not have the money to cover this. She needs an inspection of her home. She is becoming more and more desperate. She is an elderly pensioner with serious health issues. I beg this government to have a heart. You made a mess of this program. You had a lot of trouble with the people who actually installed the equipment, who themselves were being injured and killed in the process. This elderly lady needs some compassion. She urgently needs an inspection of her home. I suggest very strongly that in a program which was a mark of the shambolic ineptitude of this government something needs to be done. (Time expired)