Home Insulation Debacle

noco said:

Rudd wanted the project to be complete within 2 years ...the two public servants recommended to Rudd that it be over 5 years.

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Smurf1976 said:

That's what tends to happen in the public service unfortunately and it's not limited to the Australian PS (same with the states) and it makes little difference if it's Labor or Liberal in government at the time.

A "technical person" recommends a sensible way of going about a program. Need to spend $x and it will take a certain amount of time to complete. Then along come the politicians or senior bureaucrats who know nothing of the realities of phyiscally doing things in the real world and try to speed it up. Then it turn to poo in a big way.

Been there, done this sort of thing in the PS. It's not until an actual crisis hits that all of a sudden the technical guy / girl is a hero and everyone listens. By then it's usually too late to do anything other than come up with a costly workaround.

We desperately need to get more "practical" people into politics in my opinion. Someone other than lawyers and union types. Someone who comprehends that putting twice as many people on a job doesn't necessarily get it done in half the time. Someone who understands why you can't plan everything down to the day and need some flexibiltiy. Eg a 5 year project so we'd expect to do 15 - 25% in any given year, not necessarily exactly 20% per year, and please don't ask me exactly what's happening with it on the 27th of October 2016 (to pick a random date) as planning in such detail that far in advance is pointless in most cases.

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drsmith said:

Royal commission live,

http://rcommedia.com.au/hiprc/live/

I don't know specifically what day or time Kevin Rudd is to front.

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THE costings for Labor's home insulation program were drawn on the back of a napkin by a senior politician, possibly Kevin Rudd, and an industry representative, a former government contractor claims.
Troy Delbridge, a technical advisor for the scheme, has told a royal commission how he learned about the napkin when he asked a departmental colleague to see the program's costings.
Under-cross examination by counsel assisting Keith Wilson, Dr Delbridge said the senior politician who wrote on it might have been Mr Rudd.

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Julia said:

For all our complaints about bias within the ABC...

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SirRumpole said:

Rather than being 'Left biased' I think there is a case for saying that the ABC is 'government biased', ie it doesn't want to bite the hand that feeds it.

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noco said:

Rudd has engaged a $15,000 a day barrister to get him out of trouble for the 4 deaths and the hundred plus house fires he created through his stupidity.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...ink-batts-scheme/story-fnihsrf2-1226885510728

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SirRumpole said:

From what I saw, Peter Garrett gave a very good account of himself. He didn't shirk the responsibility and was thanked by the family of a deceased installer for his frank evidence.

An intelligent and dedicated man who was set up imo by KRudd.

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