Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The third element of the government’s nation-building plan is our intention to create energy efficient housing for the nation. That is designed to bring about a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to the equivalent of some 49 million tonnes of GHGs, the equivalent of taking a million cars off the road. The means by which we propose to do that is to ensure that owner-occupied dwellings across the country have ceiling insulation. That is why we have embarked upon this practical program.

On the specifics of the program, I draw the Leader of the Opposition, in the interesting new twist in his engagement in this debate, to the comments by the CEO of the Insulation Council of Australia dated 13 February where the CEO says that the package will create around 4,000 jobs, and that ‘the economic multiplier will ripple well past the insulation industry’s raw material suppliers, manufacturers, installers and delivery drivers’. Let us just reflect for a moment, for example, on people who work in the retail sector in Australia. They sell products which are made in Australia and overseas. We last year decided to support retail and consumption by two sets of measures, one in the measures we released in December and again most recently which will flow through in March and April. Why? Because in each and every one of the electorates represented opposite there are shops, small shops, which sell goods that are made in Australia and overseas. But the jobs in those shops are equally important to this government whatever the product they happen to sell, because we take an interest in all those folk who depend on the continuing turnover of economic activity to actually have a job. That is why we did that.

On the question of the insulation industry, again I would draw the attention of the honourable member to the statement delivered by the Insulation Council of Australia. The labour intensity of installing insulation batts is huge. The labour intensity of actually getting the stuff out to households is huge. Material suppliers: the impact there is significant. And on top of all of that we believe that those who are engaged in the domestic manufacture will be advantaged as well. It is the total jobs impact of this measure, the social housing measure and on top of that the school building measure which has underpinned the government’s determination to provide practical support for jobs at this time of the global economic recession. The government has taken decisive economic action to support the economy at a time when we are suffering assault from forces of the global economy beyond our shores. Those opposite wish to sit in their comfortable seats and do nothing.

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