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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Home insulation: safety overridden to meet Kevin Rudd's 'horrendous' deadline | Home insulation: safety overridden to meet Kevin Rudd's 'horrendous' deadline |
| (6 months later) | |
| Kevin Rudd's "horrendous" timeline for the home insulation program denied bureaucrats adequate time to consider safety risks, an inquiry has heard. | Kevin Rudd's "horrendous" timeline for the home insulation program denied bureaucrats adequate time to consider safety risks, an inquiry has heard. |
| Public servants were given five months to devise the $2.8bn scheme. Safety considerations were overlooked as they scrambled to have it up and running by 1 July 2009, a royal commission has been told. | |
| The former deputy secretary of the Environment Department, Malcolm Forbes, who oversaw delivery, says potential risks would have been properly considered if time wasn't so tight. | The former deputy secretary of the Environment Department, Malcolm Forbes, who oversaw delivery, says potential risks would have been properly considered if time wasn't so tight. |
| The commissioner, Ian Hanger QC, asked what was "so magic" about July 1 2009. "That's what the prime minster wanted," Forbes replied. | The commissioner, Ian Hanger QC, asked what was "so magic" about July 1 2009. "That's what the prime minster wanted," Forbes replied. |
| Asked why nobody told Rudd it couldn't be done, Forbes said doing so would have gone against the public service culture, which was to remain positive and get the job done. | Asked why nobody told Rudd it couldn't be done, Forbes said doing so would have gone against the public service culture, which was to remain positive and get the job done. |
| Forbes said he had raised concerns about the challenging deadline with the former co-ordinator general, Mike Mrdak. "We were flagging early that this was a significant challenge to us," he said. | Forbes said he had raised concerns about the challenging deadline with the former co-ordinator general, Mike Mrdak. "We were flagging early that this was a significant challenge to us," he said. |
| A coronial inquest has blamed the scheme's rushed rollout for the deaths of young Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney. A New South Wales tradesman, Marcus Wilson, also died installing home insulation. | A coronial inquest has blamed the scheme's rushed rollout for the deaths of young Queenslanders Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney. A New South Wales tradesman, Marcus Wilson, also died installing home insulation. |
| Forbes said he had never, in his 33 years as a public servant, seen such a short gap between a government program being announced and rolled out, as occurred with the home insulation program. | Forbes said he had never, in his 33 years as a public servant, seen such a short gap between a government program being announced and rolled out, as occurred with the home insulation program. |
| In a statement to the inquiry he called the implementation timeline “horrendous". "Some compromises were made that left risks remaining to achieve the timeline." | In a statement to the inquiry he called the implementation timeline “horrendous". "Some compromises were made that left risks remaining to achieve the timeline." |
| The scheme wasn't fully implemented until September 2009 but even then inspections were happening slowly. Though 400,000 homes had been insulated by October, only 172 roof inspections had taken place. | The scheme wasn't fully implemented until September 2009 but even then inspections were happening slowly. Though 400,000 homes had been insulated by October, only 172 roof inspections had taken place. |
| The inquiry resumes on Friday. | The inquiry resumes on Friday. |