The federal government's troubled home insulation scheme comes under the spotlight again today with a Coalition-dominated parliamentary committee hearing from industry experts in Melbourne.
Liberal senator Guy Barnett says the inquiry into the energy-efficient homes package was set up last October after reports of rorting and price distortions house fires and the electrocution of untrained installers.
"The motion was responding to reports of rorting and price distortions, evidence of house fires caused by the poor regulation of installation, reports of electrocutions to untrained installers, and government waste and mismanagement within the multi-billion-dollar program," he said in a statement.
"We are now witnessing the fallout of this ill-conceived scheme."
Jim Liaskos from the Polyester Insulation Manufacturers Association will tell the senate committee the program was flawed.
"I think in the enthusiasm for the government to roll it out,they rushed it," he told ABC Radio."There really wasn't sufficient consultation with either industry or unions."
But Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand spokesman Dennis D'Arcy said the government made it clear it would make changes to the scheme if they were necessary.
"They always made it clear to us that this program was a work in progress," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has continued to defend Minister Peter Garrett after it emerged the insulation industry warned deaths were possible after the first fatality.
Four people have died since the government introduced the scheme last year.
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