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

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. The question went in part to the relative danger associated with insulation and the link between that and fires, and it went to a range of other matters as well. In response to the Leader of the Opposition’s question, I am advised that in 2008, before the scheme, the percentage of houses experiencing fire related incidents was 0.12 per cent. In 2009, the percentage of houses experiencing a fire as a result of insulation related causes was 0.0085 per cent. Each one of these fire related incidents is one incident too many. Furthermore, whether it is in 2008, 2009 or 2010, the question of household safety is of fundamental importance, the question of industrial safety is of fundamental importance and, of course, the question of workers’ safety is of fundamental importance.

The second part of the Leader of the Opposition’s question goes to the proposed household renewable energy rebate scheme which the government has indicated would be introduced by 1 June this year. The reason the government is spending the period between now and then working through the guidelines associated with that scheme is to deal with the risk management challenges associated with it. The advice that we have from officials is that that represents an appropriate period of time to work that through. As the minister has indicated, there are a number of reputable firms out there who have been engaged in this industry for a long, long time, and therefore it is important that it be possible for re-registered firms who have a long and safe history in this industry to be able to access the possibility of support through the new scheme prior to 1 June. These are the measures which were referred to yesterday. These are the measures which we propose to engage in in the period ahead.

I conclude my answer to the Leader of the Opposition by saying that it is important to deal with each and every practical challenge which has arisen through the implementation of this program, one of which goes to the impact on workers, which we spoke about yesterday.

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