Electrical industry association says government must come clean on insulation figures

Peak electrical industry body NECA has again called on the government to publicly release the details of insulation inspections after three people died in a fire linked to the bungled program.

A tragic house fire in Wagga Wagga on 10 November 2010 claimed the life of three people and the government confirmed the home had insulation installed as part of the failed Home Insulation Program.

NECA Chief Executive Officer James Tinslay said the government must act immediately and release the results of the inspections so residents and the industry know how big the problem really is to fix: “NECA is again calling on the government to come clean on the inspection figures. How many more fires and deaths does the catastrophic home insulation program need to be linked to before the government acts on this?

“NECA was the first organisation to warn the government about the risks involved in the failed program as early as March 2009 and, over 18 months later, the electrical industry and importantly residents are still in the dark about the very real dangers in ceilings across Australia.

“The government must come clean on this so residents that live in one of the 1.1 million homes that received insulation as part of the bungled program can sleep at night.”

NECA has written to the independent Members of Parliament to ask for their support to any Parliamentary process that facilitates the release of the inspection figures.

“NECA has written to the independent members and asked for their support in any parliamentary process to have these figures released. Enough is enough and the government must act now,” Tinslay continued. “Mr Combet has said the inspection figures may scare the public, but I think the public are more scared of the possibility of a fire starting in their roof thanks to dodgy insulation. After all, it was taxpayer dollars that funded this mismanaged program, so the public deserves to know.”