Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts. Given that the peak industry body representing electrical and communications contractors took the extraordinary step of alerting him in writing about the fire and electrical dangers surrounding the government’s Home Insulation Program, why did it take seven weeks for one of his departmental officials to bother replying? Given the serious and highly credible nature of this warning, what advice was requested by the minister or his office from officials on this issue? What immediate action did the minister take then to ensure that the safety warnings were heeded, and what other safety warnings did the minister or his department receive from industry groups? Would the minister make a full statement to this House about what warnings he received, when he received them, what action he took and when he took it?

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

I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. I am pleased to advise the Leader of the Opposition, through you, Mr Speaker, about the consultation process that has been a central feature of this program and continues to be so. I can advise the House that at a roundtable in February 2009 industry expressed a desire for a national unit of training to be developed for installers of insulation, recognising that this is an industry that previously had no dedicated training program. My department responded to this advice and contracted the Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council, the peak training body for the industry, in consultation with DEEWR, to develop training materials for the safe and effective rollout of insulation in accordance with the Australian standards and as required under the guidelines.

Following that, CPSISC—I beg your pardon, there are many acronyms here—the Construction and Property Services Industry Skills Council, consulted widely with relevant industry organisations, including the insulation sector, the CFMEU, the MBA and the Housing Industry Association—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I take it by the questions that there is some interest in this subject; it is a serious matter. By the tone of interjections there is an allusion as to why these things are serious. I would think, therefore, that the minister should be heard in silence.

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

In addition, the industry skills council developed a pocketbook to support the training package, and that pocketbook warns explicitly of the dangers of electricity—that stapling live wires to joists can be life threatening—and that advice from a licensed electrical contractor should be sought. As I have consistently said, I will not hesitate to boost training requirements, safety standards and compliance measures under this program. That is what I have done today and that is what I did last year as well in order to have a program that meets the Australian standards, or exceeds them, as it does, and fully conforms to the advice that we have received and that I have received from my department in this matter. I am further in a position—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The question asked whether the minister would make a full statement to the House detailing all warnings, all communications, all contact and all responses. Will the minister make that statement to the House?

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The minister is responding to the question.

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

Mr Speaker—

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If this list I have is the full list, he is out of a job!

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Flinders is warned.

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

In the real-time political environment which we inhabit now I am very pleased to additionally be able to advise the House in response to the question which the honourable member asked me. I have a copy of the correspondence here from Mr James Tinslay, the CEO of the National Electrical and Communications Association, and a response to that letter from the Assistant Secretary of the Home Energy Branch, who was asked to reply on the minister’s behalf, thanking him for the letter, apologising for the delay in replying and pointing out that the guidelines for the Energy Efficient Homes Package clearly state that the insulation installer must follow the minimum wiring and clearance standard distances, as stated in clause 4.5.2.3 and figure 4.7 of the AS/NZS 3000:2007, the Australian and New Zealand standard. The department’s response to Mr Tinslay was clear that the guidelines refer to the wiring and minimum clearance distances as stated in those Australian and New Zealand standards and that a development program was in place for training based on existing units. This correspondence also advised NECA that they would be added to the stakeholder register as an organisation that could provide advice, consultation and information. Subsequent to that they have participated in the consultation roundtables that I continue to hold.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Ms Speaker, I ask the minister to table the documents from which he was quoting.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Was the minister quoting from documents?

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

I table the letter in question as the document I have spoken to.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Abbott interjecting

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Were there other documents that the minister was quoting from?

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

That is the letter I was quoting from and that is the document in question.

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, he quoted from a letter from the electrical contractors. I would ask him to table that. Then he quoted from a letter from his department, which he has tabled, and I thank him for that. But I would ask him to table the letter from the electrical contractors from which he quoted in his answer.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I will do this as the practice of the House. Was that minister quoting from other documents?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members—Yes.

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

No, Mr Speaker.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Clearly the minister was quoting from other documents because the letter was passed to him midway through his answer.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have asked the minister whether he was quoting from other documents. He quoted from a document that he says he has tabled. Whether there are other documents has been raised as a question and I have asked the minister. The minister has indicated that he was not. This is the way in which these matters have been handled in the past.