Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery. Does the minister agree with the statement made by the Prime Minister on the day that he was appointed as the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Government Service Delivery that he is ‘responsible directly for making sure that energy insulation is happening’?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have not seen that comment, but I have to say that, knowing the form of Senator Cormann, I am not going to take anything he says as gospel. I would certainly like to see the context, because the one thing we know about Senator Cormann is that he takes things out of context every day. I would have to see it before I would be happy to answer a question like that.

Over the past three days I have answered numerous questions about my role. I am again happy to put on record that my roles were to maximise job opportunities and to ensure the timely rollout of the stimulus package. As I have informed the Senate, when I became the Parliamentary Secretary for Government Service Delivery, I—along with the Coordinator-General, Mike Mrdak—met a few times with ministerial officers from departments that were responsible for delivering an element of the stimulus package. These meetings were designed to ensure strong reporting and lines of communication between Commonwealth agencies and state governments and to provide feedback between agencies, state governments and ministerial offices to ensure that the rollout of the stimulus was proceeding smoothly and on time. That is the role that I was playing. I would not be taking the words of Senator Cormann without actually seeing the document that he is quoting from.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. I would like to table the transcript of the interview with the Prime Minister on radio 2UE on 9 June 2009.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is leave granted?

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with normal procedure, if it is shown to us and we accept that it is what he says, it will be tabled at the end of question time.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I refer to the minister’s answer yesterday, when he excused himself from the responsibility of raising safety concerns regarding the rollout of the rushed and failed Home Insulation Program with the Prime Minister on the grounds that at the time he was only the parliamentary secretary and not a minister. Given that his responsibilities as parliamentary secretary also included the Home Insulation Program, does he still maintain that he had no responsibility to inform the Prime Minister about the safety issues with the program, either as parliamentary secretary or as a minister?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is pretty clear that he got that question from Senator Abetz, because that was a complete misrepresentation of what I said yesterday. You are lucky that you did not get that by email. Minister Garrett, as the minister responsible, has always taken account of any element of risk identified during the course of the Home Insulation Program and has always taken action on advice to address these risks. The minister advises that, from the commencement of the program, his office was kept abreast of how the program was developing, the risk assessment processes that were underway, issues that arose during the assessment process, and the design and implementation of the Home Insulation Program. The minister further advises that this included participation in roundtables. (Time expired)

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a further supplementary question. I think that the minister should check yesterday’s Hansard. It is exactly what he said. Will the minister now tell the Senate when he first became aware of the serious safety issues for workers involved in the failed Home Insulation Program? Has the minister checked his records, as he said he would yesterday, to ascertain whether any members of the Prime Minister’s personal staff were present at the regular meetings at which safety issues and risks in the Home Insulation Program were discussed?

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think that I made it clear yesterday that in terms of any meetings that I was involved in—

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Will you now tell the Senate when you first became aware—

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann, you asked the question. I think that you should have the courtesy of actually listening to the answer.

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They are not interested in answers. Again I say in relation to any discussions I had with departments that, while discussions included risks to the Commonwealth and program delivery risks, they did not include fire or electrical hazard. I made that clear yesterday and restate that now.

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! If you want to debate it, the time to debate it is after question time.

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on a point of order: I seek your guidance because the Leader of the Government tells us that we should ask the minister about when the minister first became aware of safety issues, and the minister does not answer. Who should we direct questions about safety issues to?

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is not a point of order; it is a debating point. You are quite entitled to debate that at the end of question time. That is when that should be debated.