Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The answer to that question is that I received the full Minter Ellison report this year and that is the first occasion that I saw and read that report in its entirety. The second part of his question to me I respond to as follows. In determining a risk assessment mechanism for the rollout of the Home Insulation Program, I understand my department drew on a range of sources and information including the Minter Ellison risk assessment report and began to deliver a risk register as a consequence of that report. The totality of advice that I received, including my department’s identification of matters raised not only in that report but in others coming through to me, I have responded to. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: I have responded to it in these terms which were to ensure that we put in place a delivery of the Home Insulation Program that provided for the management of risk to acceptable levels.

A number of those matters that have been identified in this report were identified in other engagements that were brought to my attention over time—namely, consultations with stakeholders, views of relevant technical experts and otherwise. The task that I set myself was to determine that the advice that I received was the appropriate advice to act upon. I put in place a series of measures to ensure the rollout of this program taking into account any matters identified by the department and brought forward to me by way of advice. That is what I did in relation to this program. There are a staged series of additional announcements I made on the basis of advice I received to lift issues in relation to safety and subsequently to training. It is a case of managing acceptable risk levels that has always been the determiner for me as minister. That is why I have made every decision up to the decisions I have made in the last week.

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