Kevin Rudd has been accused of running away from his government's botched home insulation program and doing little for installers after pulling the rug out from under them.
Insulation installers and manufacturers protested outside Parliament House in Canberra today.
The axing of the $2.5 billion scheme, which was scrapped after it was linked to the deaths of four installers and 120 house fires, had ruined them, they said.
Despite assurances from the prime minister in February that "he got it" and would fix the problems, many are still owed money and some face bankruptcy
. Kellie Jackson, who ran an insulation business with her husband in Albury, said she had been forced to return to waitressing to feed her children.
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The couple are still waiting on more than $60,000 in payments from the government. Ms Jackson accused the prime minister of being a shonk.
"When Mr Rudd came down here he said that he was going to fix the problem, he turned around and put a junior minister in charge," she told reporters in Canberra.
"Then that junior minister shut down the program so he didn't fix the problem at all."
Mr Rudd had not mentioned the word insulation, or insulation program, since he put Greg Combet in charge, Ms Jackson said. "As far as I'm concerned he is one of the shonks because he's ran from the problem. "He's just up and left us with nothing.
He doesn't get it, he doesn't have a clue what we're all going through." Insulation manufacturer Gavin Peacock, of Yatala in Queensland, said he had shed more than 20 staff and was left with no income and a lot of outgoings.
Mr Peacock said the money he made when the scheme started was reinvested in stock and machinery.
"They've pulled the rug from under us," he said.
"The debts are rising each day, each month."
The opposition's climate action spokesman Greg Hunt said long-standing businesses had been caused untold damage by the failed program.
"What they have had is a cancer delivered upon their industry," he told reporters.
"The result has been damage and destruction and many are facing bankruptcy." Mr Combet said the government wanted to provide assistance to legitimate businesses but was being careful.
"It is true to say that some of the more vocal companies which have been prominent in the media have serious compliance problems, relating to safety, fire risk and to potential fraud," he said.
About 100,000 claims had been paid out since the closure of the program.
A further 50,000 claims of $50 to $60 million were outstanding but were subject to investigation because they were incomplete or incorrectly completed. Others were subject to fraud or compliance checking.
