Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has come under further attack from the Opposition over the insulation rebate scheme, with Liberal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella saying Garrett's handling of the program was evidence Labor did not know how to govern.
"This government can't keep slipping and sliding like snakes and avoiding real issues", Mirabella said.
Garrett has vigourously defended the handling of his insulation plan, telling ABC Radio that "it's not the rebate that is causing accidents in people's roofs."
On Wednesday morning, more Labor backbenchers rallied around the minister.
"I think Peter Garrett is a very good environment minister," Ms Rea told reporters, adding he had done everything he could to address the problems with the program.
Another Labor MP, Jim Turnour, said Mr Garrett had raised installation safety standards under the rebate program.
"The government has acted appropriately in terms of the rollout of this program."
Newspaper reports: Safety inspections could cost $50m
Earlier, the Australian newspaper claimed taxpayers will spend up to $50 million on home safety inspections, but Garrett says he doesn't believe the cost will be that high.
Mr Garrett said there was a legal expectation that installers meet safety standards "and make sure they do the job properly".
The opposition is demanding Mr Garrett appear before parliament later on Thursday and give "a full and complete explanation" about his response to warnings about safety in his $2.45 billion program.
A handful of deaths connected to the program has put pressure on Garrett, and the government has ordered an emergency audit on almost 50,000 to ensure the safety of homes fitted with foil insulation.
Garrett: I've done all I can to address the issue
Mr Garrett said he had done everything he can to address the
issue.
"When we rolled out this program we inherited an unregulated labour market," he said.
"When it came to my attention that there was an issue surrounding foil insulation ... I've been absolutely clear that I want to make safety a priority."
Coaltion takes aim at Garrett
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has stopped short of calling on Mr Garrett to resign or be sacked.
"I don't want to be unfair on the bloke," he told ABC Radio, adding he understood the task of administering a complex portfolio.
"But this is a very serious matter. People have died in the process of working on this program."
Mr Abbott said there was a heavy responsibility on the prime minister to make sure Mr Garrett gave a full account of his stewardship in a "extraordinarily grave matter".
"This is a monumentally, incompetently administered program."
Abbott yesterday said the public had a right to be "very angry", while consumer affairs spokesman, Luke Hartsuyker, has attacked the minister.
"If he can't ensure that funding is spent in a way that doesn't kill people well he doesn't deserve to be a minister," Mr Hartsuyker told reporters.
"The government is responsible for negligently administering programs which were never properly designed in the first place," he told reporters.
"You shouldn't put in place programs that are a green light for cowboys."
Government backs Garrett
But government ministers are clamouring to support Garrett.
Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner denied it would have been better to roll out the program slowly.
"I don't think it's right to say we should have sat back ... dotting the i's and crossing the t's because we were in a crisis situation," he told Sky News yesterday.
Mr Garrett has refused to accept responsibility for the faults in the scheme, blaming rogue installers who'd failed to heed safety guidelines.
"My responsibility is to ensure we have a program that delivers insulation into people homes safely," he told reporters.
"We have set up a program that does that so long as the people who participate in the program observe the guidelines of the program properly."
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