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After nine months of turmoil, the Government has finally caved in and agreed to fund the removal of foil insulation product or the installation of safety switches in households which took part in its failed insulation program.
Local Federal Member Paul Neville said the decision was well and truly overdue, and was in the Chamber when the Minister and Shadow Minister made their statements to the House.
He hopes to have it listed for debate at a later stage.
“I was one of the first to warn the Rudd Government of problems with the home insulation scheme on August 19, and if it had only listened from the start then this whole debacle – 105 house fires, up to 1000 ‘live’ ceilings and four tragic deaths – might never have happened,” he said.
“Thousands of sacked insulation workers might still have their jobs, legitimate installers would not be facing financial problems with warehouses full of product and billions of taxpayer dollars would not have been wasted.
“Every day, my office has heard horror stories related to the scheme, and I will be vigilant in making sure these changes come online as soon as possible.
“Quite frankly, they can’t come soon enough for those residents who are too afraid to go to sleep at night for fear their house may catch fire.”
Mr Neville said the Minister now responsible for fixing the mess, Greg Combet, today announced that the Government would roll out further details of the new arrangements in coming weeks.
“Shadow Minister Greg Hunt called on the Government to clarify a number of areas of concern and to declare the estimated cost. One group of electrical contractors believes it could be as high as $450 million.”
“For too long, Labor has ‘governed by headline’ and we’ve all had to pay the price.”
For the time being, anyone wanting a home safety inspection of foil material installed in their ceiling should call 131 792 in the first instance. If you are unhappy with your dealings with the hotline, call Mr Neville’s office on 1300 130 238 for further investigation and followup.
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