David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to take note of the ANAO report, and I thank the senators who have contributed. I seek to make on behalf of the government a few remarks pertaining to this report. The government welcomes the release of the ANAO report into the Green Loans program and accepts its findings. It has been my privilege in recent times to have served on the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, so I am familiar with the work of the ANAO. It is always of the highest standard, so of course we accept this report and its findings.

The opposition, perhaps naturally enough, have tried to use this report to mount an attack on the government and, in particular, on the minister responsible for the program at the time, Minister Garrett. That is to be expected. But, from a careful reading of the report, I do not think it provides the ammunition that the senators opposite seem to think it does to attack the government and the minister.

The report makes it clear that the Green Loans program suffered significant failings in its design and implementation. The government accepts that, and those failings are to be regretted. The report is clear that the failings in the design and implementation of the Green Loans program resulted from deficiencies in the work of the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Ministers are of course responsible for the work of government departments, and I am not seeking to blame public servants for the deficiencies that the report identified in the Green Loans program. But I think fairness to Mr Garrett requires that the facts as noted in this report be placed on the record. Both Senator Milne and Senator Birmingham have touched upon a quote which I think will do this debate well if it is used in total. The report says:

… the former Minister received incomplete, inaccurate and untimely briefings on program design features and implementation progress, challenges and risks … the former Minister was not well served by his department in this respect … due to the poor quality briefings he received.

I think it is worth repeating that last line:

… the former Minister was not well served by his department in this respect … due to the poor quality briefings he received.

It should also be noted that the findings of the report largely relate to historical issues with the program. These findings are not exactly news. They were also covered in the report earlier this year by Ms Patricia Faulkner—a report that Senator Milne did refer to—into the administration of the Green Loans program. That is why the Audit Office has not made any specific recommendations to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. They have noted that improvements to the structure and delivery of the program’s governance are now being made. In other words, the report identifies problems with this program that existed in the past but accepts that the government is already taking the action required to rectify those problems. As I said at the outset, the government accepts responsibility for the deficiencies identified in the ANAO report. The government has taken note of the lessons identified in this and other reports and is already taking the necessary action to rectify the problems identified in the report. The findings of this report are being used to improve the governance and delivery of the Green Loans program and other energy efficiency programs.

The administration of this program was transferred to the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency in February this year. Following continuing problems with the program, the government took the decision in July to phase out the program altogether. The report highlights the work already being done by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to remedy these problems. The minister, the Hon. Greg Combet, has appointed the Hon. Mark Dreyfus QC as Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and has tasked him with taking responsibility for existing and future energy efficiency programs and ensuring continuous improvement. I am very confident that Mark Dreyfus will deal with these issues with his customary attention to detail and excellence.

Since those opposite have sought to make some political capital out of this report and the deficiencies it has identified, I will on the way through make some political points in return. The deficiencies identified in both the Green Loans Program and the Home Insulation Program are things the government regrets. But these were ambitious programs intended both to provide support to employment and help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. In the face of the global financial crisis and the immediate imperative to take action against harmful climate change, it was necessary to roll out these programs quickly. This was the ultimate source of the deficiencies identified by this and other reports. It is of course a matter of fact that the opposition opposed all these programs. They opposed them because they did not believe that the government’s action was needed to protect Australian jobs and Australian businesses in the face of the global financial crisis, and they opposed them because they do not believe the science of climate change and therefore do not believe that any action on emissions is needed.