The Opposition is not letting up on the issue of Environment Minister Peter Garrett's insulation scheme, saying Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should apologise to the families of the four people who were killed working on the programme.
Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey ramped up his criticism of Garrett, saying he made a string of mistakes during the program's implementation and ignored 20 warnings about the safety of the scheme.
Government attempts to rework scheme
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Yesterday, the government announced it would rework its botched home insulation program and try to avoid
massive job losses. Shonky insulation workers will be retrained, it said.
Thousands of insulation workers face the chop after the government decision to can its home insulation rebate scheme, linked to four deaths and at least 87 house fires.
The solar hot water rebate scheme, which also raised safety concerns was also stopped by Garrett.
The government says it will replace the schemes with a new renewable energy rebate to start in June.
Employment Participation Minister Mark Abib concedes the changes will result in job losses, but he's put an extra $10m on the table to provide 2000 training places for out-of-work installers.
No let up from Hockey
But Hockey wasn't satisfied.
"This is about Kevin Rudd as much as it is about Peter Garrett," Mr Hockey told the Ten Network on Sunday.
"I would say if accountability means anything to Kevin Rudd, and it should mean something to the prime minister, then Peter Garrett must be sacked and Kevin Rudd should apologise to the families of those Australians who died putting in his pink batt program."
Hockey said while Garrett was the starting point, other questions remain unresolved including what Rudd knew about the warnings.
He also pointed out Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner's concession that the government couldn't be expected to "dot the I's and cross the T's" on the program.
"Well if the finance minister is saying that about the expenditure of billions of dollars, what sort of a culture does this government have?..
"And out of all of this, how could you trust the government and how could you trust Peter Garrett with a new environmental program," he said.
