Taxpayers will fork out up to $100 million to remove foil insulation or install electrical safety switches in 50,000 homes, in further changes to remedy problems caused by the government's suspended insulation schem, newspapers report.
The Minister now in charge of the scheme, Greg Combet, yesterday cited further concerns with the problem, such as fraud, and said that some of the warnings to government over fraud and fires had indeed proven correct, reports The Australian.
One installer carried out $9.6m worth of work under the scheme, reports the paper, but still had three referrals to the AFP, the paper says.
50,000 jobs to be ripped out
Yesterday, it was announced that more than 50,000 households had foil insulation fitted under the botched rebate scheme - now it's all to be either ripped out or made safe.
Changes to the federal government's insulation scheme, which has been linked to four deaths and more than 100 house fires, also include at least 200,000 house inspections.
"The government is, as a matter of urgency, preparing a plan for the safe removal of foil insulation or alternatively the installation of safety switches," Energy Efficiency Minister Greg Combet told parliament on Wednesday.
The decision is based on advice from the Electrical Safety Office in Queensland, which Mr Combet says was handed to the government after the program was canned last month.
"The (advice) was not therefore available to the previous minister Peter Garrett during the operation of the program."
The measure is one of several Mr Combet outlined in response to the scheme.
Inspections will occur in at least 200,000 of the 1.1 million insulated homes.
"If a risk assessment identifies the need for more inspections, those inspections will be undertaken," Mr Combet said.
Former senior public servant Dr Allan Hawke will also undertake an independent review of the scheme, due by the end of March.
