Govt to rip out foil insulation

10/03/2010 | 08:42 PM

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.

And the department of environment will continue to investigate claims that insulators were fraudulently claiming the rebate, worth up to $1,600, without undertaking the work.

So far three cases have been referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.

The opposition's climate action spokesman, Greg Hunt, said while the action on foil insulation was welcome, Mr Combet failed to address other problems.

The government hasn't said how it would find and fix the 240,000 houses with unsafe or dodgy non-foil insulation, he said.

And there was no plan to help small businesses left in the lurch by the suspension of the program.

"Almost 1,500 workers have lost their jobs and there is no plan for small businesses which are currently going into liquidation," he told parliament.

There was "absolutely no transparency or honesty or accountability about the extraordinary policy failings" of the program.

"There's not one word about the costs of repairing the government's program," he said, suggesting it could reach $450 million.

He also demanded Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologise to the families of the four young installers who died rolling out the program.

But Mr Combet said he had already spoken to the families of Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Marcus Wilson and Mitchell Sweeney.

"The death of these four young men is a terrible tragedy," he said, adding that independent investigations into the deaths were underway.