Andrew Laming (Bowman, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. I refer the minister to these invoices issued to my constituent, a ceiling insulation installer, by the nearest cellulose insulation manufacturer, which is located in the Prime Minister’s electorate. The invoices are dated 10 weeks apart—on 15 July and 23 September this year. Minister, in July, insulation bags wholesaled at $19 per bag. Just 10 weeks later, on 19 September, they were $32 a bag. That is an inflation rate—just a touch outside the RBA target range!—of 317 per cent per annum. Minister, is my constituent living in a banana republic, or has the government stimulus package overheated the ceiling insulation sector to the point where gouging and profiteering is costing Australian taxpayers millions of dollars without a single extra batt being installed?

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