George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

Senator McGrath, as you say earlier today the Prime Minister tabled in the other place the report of the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program conducted by Mr Ian Hanger QC. The royal commission found that the tragic deaths of four young workers would not and should not have occurred had the home insulation program being properly designed and implemented.

The royal commissioner found that the cabinet process and the decision making in relation to the home insulation program was, to use his words, 'unorthodox'. He found that warnings by senior officials were frequently and routinely ignored. Among other things—and I am quoting from the words of the royal commissioner—the urgency with which the program was rolled out:

seems to have infected the entire program and caused less than adequate attention and consideration to be given to questions of risk generally, of personal safety and of compliance.

It occurred 'notwithstanding any deficiencies or compromises that were necessary to achieve that goal'—the goal being to have the program rolled out in the shortest possible time. He went on to say the fact that the date had been believed to have been inflexible' says a lot about the government at the time'.

A weekend within which to consider draft Guidelines for a $2 billion scheme was grossly inadequate and is indicative of the undue speed which always attended the HIP.

The program failed because of the need for 'undue speed' in its implementation.