According to ABC News:
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has been stripped of responsibility for the household insulation scheme and other energy efficiency programs.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced he is establishing a separate, stand-alone department for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.
The department will be headed by Climate Change Minister Penny Wong, but her assistant minister, Greg Combet, will be given direct responsibility for winding up the insulation program and rolling out its replacement.
Discuss away.
More importantly, the MRET is getting some clarity, with small scale (rooftop, solar hot water etc) projects getting a fixed price.
http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/minister/wong/2010/media-releases/February/mr20100226.aspx
The devil’s always in the detail with these things, but it looks promising for a change.
Good idea!
Yes, that does appear to be a) a substantial change, and b) for the better. The detail will be very interesting.
Shame that they’re deliberately burying it, though…
Insulation beat-up completely aside, I have far more faith in the intelligence and parliamentary nous of Combet and Wong than Garrett any day of the week. I would be hard-pressed to see who this would be a negative thing for (beyond Garrett, heh heh).
A slight disagreement with patrickg. Garrett’s problem is not lack of intelligence per se, but a lack of extensive practical experience in the sort of unexciting but important things that a minister of state has to be good at. That said, Combet is certainly going to be an asset in that regard.
I would argue, Paul, that Garrett should have had the intelligence to know he did not possess what the role required, and to ask for a parliamentary secretariat instead.
Fair point patrickg, although those who sponsored Garrett’s rise to the Shadow Ministry and then the Cabinet also have something to answer for in this regard.
Yes a positive move; not least to put this matter, finally, to bed.
It is a pity that it took this to do it and that Garrett’s unsuitability wasn’t spotted before the K-S by-election …
oops: I meant preselection
So its Mark Latham’s fault. The Cabinet will like that conclusion.
Are Patrick G and Paul Norton sure that the real problem resides in Peter Garrett.I agree with the point re inexperience.
Hence, I’d be more interested in examining the millieu in which he must operate, full of hired guns, public service careerists, spin doctors and ALP Right hacks, all seemingly operating under the aegis of eco rationalism and controlfreakism..
They’re wasting this major talent by putting him in the wrong place. He should be the minister for baboon management.
Took them long enough to catch on to that idea. It feels like Senator Milne has mentioned this just about every time she has stood up since the original scheme was introduced.
Garrett is being punished for not having the political antennae to realise that the department of environment would have no idea how to implement a nationwide home renovation program.
Which is fair enough, they are staffed by a bunch of environmental pseudo- activists. Good on policy ideas, but implementation is not their bag, baby.
But now it’s all gone to the Department of Climate Change, which is staffed by ex-Treasury economists. Smart people, to be sure, but as practical as an ash tray on a motor bike.
@Fran Barlow
As far as I know Garrett has never been preselected for Kingsford-Smith (or am I missing the joke). For that matter, Combet wasn’t preselected for his seat either.
Adrien @ 12: “They’re wasting this major talent by putting him in the wrong place. He should be the minister for baboon management.”
Well as Minister for the Arts he kinda will be of course.
Anyone know who will head up the new Department?
“He should be the minister for baboon management.”
I was under the impression this was Tony Abbott’s job.
From ABC Report.
Guess that means, all the rest of us, with yellow batts should not expect an audit.
“Yes a positive move; not least to put this matter, finally, to bed.”
But rest assured something else will be dragged up to take its place. Why only this morning on ABC news there was a lead story about a school having the wrong foundations for the building that was to go on it with an appropriately outraged Chrissy Pyne crapping on about Julia Gillard memorial halls and waste or something or other.
Excpect wall to wall outrage about things the govermin has done combined with complaints that its a do nothing govermin from here to election day.
Tim @18: “He should be the minister for baboon management…I was under the impression this was Tony Abbott’s job.”
There I was thinking banobos,after all those comments about mating habits, now you tell us it is baboons…
Re Elise, Tim Macknay, it seems obvious where Abbott’s role in baboon mangement might be.
As its suhject.
Good move. A unionist, even one with a law degree, will be an assett to run this sort of thing. I agree with above that Garrett needed better assistance from staffers on this one. The ALP does have a habit of hanging people out to dry. BTW: re baboons and artists. Asshole.
I think baboons do as much rooting as bonobos, Elsie, but they eat babies as well, so it’ll suit Abbott down to the ground.
I condemn baboons for the amount of rooting and baby-eating they get up to (and Tony Abbott, of course).
Oops. Wrong thread for the condemn. Oh well.
dk.au @1, that press release is great news!!!
NOW we are starting to get somewhere.
Also second those comments above, about putting Climate Change and Energy Efficiency together undedr Wong/Combet.
Potentially very promising, if Combet is given some room to move. I would hope and expect that Combet has both organisational ability and technical nouse for practical solutions, while Wong has the legislative skills for policy changes. It could be a powerful team.
Smart move. Garrett sticks to what he enjoys: old buildings, creepy crawlies and musos and everybody else gets on with the job. Combet can only mean a very bad time for Abbott, and Penny will continue to smother the Opposition with wallpaper talk. Rudd is once again a political genius.
And I wouldn’t worry too much about the schools programme. Its Julia we’re dealing with here, not the Minister for Rock’n'Roll.
Yes thanks for the link dk.au.
Not sure how this will work though. They say that the SRES will deliver the remainder of the target which I guess means they’ll have to slice a bit off the MRET for SRES, otherwise there is no guarantee that the retailers will buy the fixed $40/MWh RECs.
If this is the case then unfortunately this still means that the five times multiplier applied to rooftop PV RECs is still four times bogus CO2 mitigation. However at least the big players can now get back on with the real game.
Meeting between Rudd and Garrett earlier today:
Peter, loved your performance over the past fortnight in the bearpit, but you know I have to give you a clip over the ears, don’t you? Are you ready to take one for the team and Chris Mitchell?
Sure boss. Just throw me over there into the briar patch, the one with all the lovely biodiversity and gorgeous art farts.
But Peter, you realise that the media will sneer at you as a bald headed cock-up, and headline your porfolio change as a humiliating DEMOTION, don’t you?
No problem boss, hit me up the back of the head, give me the trees and paintings, and I promise I will be off the front pages by next week. Sweet.
Garrett should have been given the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio from day one; I think he would have been excellent in that position, and could have done a lot of good.
After all their hullabaloo and crocodile tears about problems with Labor’s program/s, I can see what the Liberals will be like when they get back into government. They will be so scared of putting a foot wrong they won’t start ANY programs, so the country will stall and go backwards. THEY will be THE do-nothing government of all time.
Agree, Paul, although minister for the arts fits him as well.
In terms of the Next Big Outrage, stay tuned for the Green Loans thing to blow sky high. That’s after the break, on ‘What Were We Thinking?”
Just taken the dog for a walk and the fresh air helped the penny to drop; obviously it’s the brokers who will smooth out the price difference between SRES and LRET RECs. No MRET split required. Thank-you Lucy the Lab. (‘scuse me while I talk amongst my-selves)
I think you are all too awash in the right-wing metanarrative.
There were countless portfolio reshuffles in the Howard era, but never the shrill,incandescent braying about “demotion” or “ministerial scalp” as there is now.
@ 20
Possibly, but Rudd’s thinking:
Bob Dylan, c.1965
CMMCNo That’s more to do with having a shrill, incandescent Opposition.
”
The symbolic authority of art and artists, cinematic or photographic, cannot be underestimated. When it comes to propping up an historically corrupt attitude to children, especially other people’s children, these two are prime players.”
Anthony Nolan @23: you would have to admit from the quote of yours above that you have considerable “Asshole re artists” form yourself. My comment should be read as comparing artists with a vocal and self-absorbed rabble (viz Cate Blanchett’s recent speech). Your comment above is redolent of a far colder take on us.
The right wing media’s continual pecking away at Rudd and Labor with the occasional set-up and bootstrapping of trivial into ‘important’ issues has obviously been quite effective. They must laugh to see some of the stuff written here and elsewhere.
Even apparently ‘smart’ people have fallen prey to the meme that Garrett has made some critical mistake the next minister along wouldn’t have or that he as actually made any particular mistake at all.
Earlier in Rudd’s administration this would have been a minor harping by the RW media. Under Howard it would have hardly gotten a mention by anyone, a one day story. And nobody but nobody would have tried to draw a connection between deaths and a Minister or try to cite some sort of incompetence.
I am surprise by how many on the left have been manipulated by the media on this, accepted their assumptions without realising it.
In fact Garrett is as smart as most Ministers and as hard working as any other Minister. He is quite capable of managing complex affairs, as capable as the next person on the list. But here again we see the Left rationalise the media meme of Garrett stuff up into a (new) assumption that he is now somehow not capable.
Murdoch finds you people easy prey.
Combet will be a better politician to run the line against Abbott, but it may be too late.
Rudd has been tainted by Garrett’s incompetence and lack of nous.
Wong is still on top.
Its not a pretty picture for the ALP.
Jack
This is a surprise. The impression given by the Government until today was that they were intent on riding out the beat up, and that it would soon run out of steam and the MSM would soon tire of it and move on to something more entertaining. It seemed like a good tactic and one that was showing signs of success; e.g. the Opposition’s failure to pursue Garrett with more questions in Parlaiment on Thursday. But this move has served to prolong the story and given Abbott opportunity for some more free air time. Which of course he’s already taken. Can’t see how it’s a good idea. There’s no need to use this to further showcase Combet’s abilities. We already knew he’s foreman material.
I can’t believe Rudd’s indecision. One day he is standing by his environment minister and says he is a first class minister and then the next he’s demoted him to a role with less responsibility. I don’t know if it’s a good thing to have a national leader who can’t make a decision and follow through with it. The whole program was flawed to begin with and it was only due to public pressure that they shut it down, otherwise it may have got a lot worse over an extended period of time. I also had to laugh when I heard Swan and Rudd say that government spending doesn’t put upward pressure on interest rates, only a few weeks after the IMF said that it does. I’m wondering who I should believe. I am so anxious to see this government do something right. I would rather see them succeed than fail but it’s not looking good. I think Labor has lost its way. Hawke and Keating did some great work but it seems like they have not left behind a legacy.
Seems Julia @ 40 has been captured by the MSM aliens identifed by Thomas Paine @ 38!
Julia: when the Minister was sworn in at the end of 2007, did he have the responsibility to roll-out a Home Insulation Program (HIP)?
I’m no Einstein, but given he no longer has responsibility for the HIP, would that mean that his responsibilities going foward will be those very same responsibilities he had before the HIP?
How on earth has he now got “less responsibility”?
PS Some salient points there too Thomas.
Come now, Alexander Downer, Robert Hill, Bronwyn Bishop, that’s just for starters – there were plenty of ministerial scalps taken, or demanded taken, especially early on in the Howard govt, and the braying was just as intense (whether the cause merited it or no is another debate).
Both statements are overly simplistic.
Agreed patrickg, it was a particular weasel talent of John Howard’s to dodge bullets by dumping blame on ministers.
Guys, “Julia” is another Liberal Party troll.
@ 45
Well, she’s either a troll or Barnaby Joyce’s wife with that attempt at economic rationalism …
AdamTucker:
My comments on a specific artist:
“The symbolic authority of art and artists, cinematic or photographic, cannot be underestimated. When it comes to propping up an historically corrupt attitude to children, especially other people’s children, these two are prime players.”
That is critical comment. Calling all artists babboons isn’t.
At the time of the Henson thing Barry Cohen, former Minister for the Arts under Whitlam made a comment to the effect that he had a lot of dealings with numerous artists some of whom were genius level and “more than a few of whom were barking mad”. That certainly has been my experience and I’d happily name the nutters but the laws of libel in NSW mean I cannot afford to tell you the truth.
But they are not all babboons.
I recall that John Howard had far tougher guidelines for his staff and would sack a minister for far less problems than what is occurring now. I’m not an advocate for either party, having voted for both, though I think when there has been millions of dollars of taxpayers money wasted and now a 41 million dollar rescue package then that is reason for a minister to lose his job. If I caused a loss of say 2000 dollars to the company I work for, I reckon I would be gone, let alone millions in damage and 41 million in a rescue package. That’s a big hole in the public purse. I think Garrett is a good bloke but I wouldn’t feel right staying in the job knowing this was within my responsibility. I do respect the man though I think it is the right thing to do to step down.
Typical Union sacking – less work for the same pay. I’d love to be sacked like that.
What a joke.
I wonder how much the bashing Krudd got from Red Kerry last night had to do with it.
I agree with Paul Burns @ 27 that this was a good decision. From my perspective, Garrett is an apprentice, intelligent but inexperienced and should have been mentored to a much greater degree and it was the right and honorable thing for Rudd to take responsiblity. In this case, doing the right thing appears as political genius.
I am no fan of Labor but I think Peter Garrett is a good man and has the potential to become a powerhouse such as Greg Combet with a bit more experience and guidance. I see this demotion as a positive thing much like an out of form cricketer or league footballer spending a bit of time with local teams to build confidence.
#12 and #16 nonsense, crass, thoughtless comments.
@ 49:
Or more work, for the same pay, during the HIP: same work, same pay, as before the HIP.
There’s usually more than one way to look at something.
Can we start erasing the trolls? They were funny the first 50 times, but they are really starting to shit me off.
It was a $2.45 billion taxpayer funded program which went bust. I think taxpayers have a right to be just a little bit annoyed.
Perhaps Rudd is quietly slipping in elements of a deal done with the Greens to get their support on the ETS under the cover of the reactions to the insulation affair. Don’t underestimate Rudd. Most of us have trouble thinking along one track at a time. He has multiple ones running.
“In terms of the Next Big Outrage, stay tuned for the Green Loans thing to blow sky high.” – Kymbos
I think ‘Green Loans’ is already well on the way to stardom.
Imagine if you will a householder who had their home assessed last September. Still hasn’t received the assessment report. Then Minister Garrett announces the Green Loans scheme will cease in March. Loans not available unless assessment reports are submitted. Conscientious householder still waiting: frustrated and (justifiably) cross.
Another scheme, another shambles.
Not Mr Garrett’s fault, his Department’s. Those folk couldn’t fight their way out of a wet paper bag if you gave them a sharp saw. The Prime Minister’s actions today have gone to the heart of the difficulties of the last 6+ months. The Dept just wasn’t up to succeeding with the many tasks the Govt assigned to it.
Mr Ambigulous at #50 – the department may have not beem up for the plethora of tasks thrown its way post 2007, but scuttlebutt in our great and glorious capital is that Mr Garrett was told from the go-get that said department was not “project-ready” and that the level of mismanagement was therefore likely. Mr Rudd demoted Mr Garrett for failing to heed his public service minnows.
Good decision. Mixing the past roles of the environmental dept with a $2.4 billion housing modification program was a silly idea.
With respect to the MRET it would have made a lot more sense to replace the large installation part of it with a series of contract for the supply of clean electricity instead of staying with a market scheme that creates investor uncertainty. Contracts based on competitive tendering give investor certainty, lower prices and the possibility of lower clean electricity prices as the technology advances.
One of the useful thing MRET has demonstrated is the risks of using permit trading to encourage long term investments.
Patrickg: From now on, they’ll be deleted as soon as I see them. At least on my threads, don’t engage with them, either do nothing or post an alert if it hasn’t been deleted within a reasonable time.
Alexis @53
Especially since insulating homes en masse around the country was such a great energy efficient idea in the first place. The whole messy, amateurish way this program has been administered has been just great for the climate change denial brigade. Fancy trusting private business with a bucket of public money. Good one Garrett – and of course, Rudd…
Thanks Robert, much appreciated.
The recent problems with the botched federal home insulation scheme is another example of politics leading to perverse outcomes.
On the balance of it, I think Peter Garrett should have been demoted, but I think that someone senior in his department should be too. Kevin Rudd needs to accept responsibility for the failure of governance that allowed these problems to occur.
The insulation program should be under the jurisdiction of a non-political taskforce with the right skills and oversight, not politicians [more]
It’s all metanarrative, people. You don’t have to drink that Kool-Aid.
Latest installment from Shanahan: Garrett has been sacked.
Nothing but a mastubatory frenzy from the Right, and you are foolish to buy into it.
Combet is ex-ACTU, isn’t he? Any similarities with a certain recent post on unions, perchance…?
Actually I do wonder why Garrett is taking all the heat on this. The role of the Coordinator-General for all the stimulus spending has been unexplored. In my experience in the social housing stimulus spending, the Coordinator -General has been hugely influential in “cutting red tape” and generally getting the money out there into the economy as quickly as possible.
I’m willing to bet that the CG, who was reporting directly to the PM, had quite alot to say about this. In the housing sphere, the State ones have pushed really, really hard to overcome or downplay any roadblocks or perceived roadblocks.
I’d say the Dept was saying “there are problems with this scheme” and the CG was saying, “just stop whingeing and get on with it”. It would explain why Rudd is taking on some of the responsibility.
Overall I think this was a great demonstration of how difficult it is to get money into the economy quickly and why government is often perceived as slow. Getting this stuff right takes time. That said, I think the program was a brilliant way to get a good environmental outcome quickly as well as as a stimulus and by and large, it’s done that.
Bernice@58: “…but scuttlebutt in our great and glorious capital is that Mr Garrett was told from the go-get that said department was not “project-ready” and that the level of mismanagement was therefore likely. Mr Rudd demoted Mr Garrett for failing to heed his public service minnows…”
Bernice, the Minter Ellison Report identified some of the risks before the roll-out last July (read Possum for the analysis), and the States warned that they would have problems in implementation. That was not “scuttlebutt”.
And if you read Garrett’s statement to Parliament it is clear that he, on his own initiative and on advice from his department, took a series of actions to try to contain and manage the already identified risks. He did not “fail to heed his minnows”.
In the end, however, the problems were not containable for reasons beyond Garrett’s control (private enterprise did not “do it better”), and that is why Rudd eventually had to “step up to the plate” and “take responsibility”, after Garrett had been put through the wringer.
Garrett might have been “demoted” and “stripped of his responsibilities” (according to the silly military jargon bought to bear in situations like this) in order to feed the media frenzy whipped up by the opposition looking to opportunistically rip off a ministerial “scalp”, but the real outcome for keen observers in Canberra is that Garrett performed exceptionally well in defending himself (and his department) in parliament against the full force of combined attack from the Opposition and the media, and gained the respect of the government backbench.
The other important outcome is that a useful environment program that has supplied insulation safely to thousands of homes, has now been suspended, people are out of work, and political damage control is now in play. This program will eventually resume in another format, and Garrett will continue to do his job in environmental biodiversity and the arts promotion.
As Tom Paine, CMMC and others have said above, stop drinking the red cordial.
Thomas Paine @39:
Murdoch finds you people easy prey.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Robert
I do not expect (or even want) you to publish this, this is really just a communication to you.
One of the reasons I look at this site is that it has been one of the very few Australian left-wing sites which have opened the circle and let in comment from outside. That’s healthy IMO.
Sure, some of this is obvious trolling and that stuff should be removed. That’s just good management.
Watching this site over the past year has shown a closing of the circle. It’s moving steadily to a pretty obvious standard left-wing site mode, ‘unless you agree with the denizens on all things, you are defined as a troll.’
This has co-incided with the steady collapse of the AGW scam and the cracks appearing in the government – no, correlation is not causation.
But the shrillness is also increasing. There are plenty of far-left ‘circle jerk’ sites out there, just as there are far right sites – all are swill. None are of any value. LP’s value lies in not being one of them.
Be a pity if it just fell into the swill. Just beware of forgetting about civil discourse, and replacing it with nothing but echoes. You know where to email me, should you wish.
Regards: MarkL
Thomas Paine, Bushfire Bill, it has nothing to do with the media leading the public astray, even though the conventional media are often good at that. When you see media such as SBS and ABC saying the same thing, you can be sure that it is fairly accurate. SBS and ABC are fairly unbias in their reporting, even though the individual reporter may show their personal opinion from time to time. Look for the simple truth. It was a $2.45 billion program, which is serious. The damage bill is extraordinary. I don’t care whether it’s the Liberals or Labor, the fact is that it’s unacceptable and a disaster.
Yes, Thomas Paine @39, I couldn’t agree more.
Interesting though, the SMH reports that a poll they’ve undertaken reveals that 61% of those polled believe Garrett should not resign.
This despite the Murdoch and ABC generated media frenzy over the past two weeks.
Will Combet be able to do any better without the in-house expertise inside the department or will he to be at the mercy of the sharp operators who have garnered government work.
The myth of small government = corruption + more expensive + no accountability
MarkL: I’m referring to a very specific phenomenon exemplified by “Jonathan”@50, and a number of other similar comments, such as this one on another thread of mine.
While we may strongly disagree with (and sometimes not post) your comments, the policy I refer to has nothing to do with you and other identifiable, genuine right-wing commenters who post here.
Razor – I’d prefer a sacking as bank executive – bad pefromance = millions of dollars in payout.
Ambigulous – it wont go far. There are no deaths that can be attributed to it by the goulish, grieving Abbot.
@73 Onya Robert
this site does not exist to provide a free billboard for Young Liberal spambots and astroturfers to advertise their wares. That is why it’s a good call for those comments to go down the memory hole.
Translation: You geeks were alright when you just stood there while we punched you in the face and stole your lunch. But now that you fight back, no fair! no fair! Waaaaaah!
As for anyone who uses the term “AGW scam” with a straight face…well, don’t expect a slavering chorus of dittohead approval round these parts. Go and stink up Tim Blair’s site.
What has got really boring “over the past year” is the propensity for a scattered cloud of interlopers to attempt to derail every other thread into a meta-discussion of “what’s wrong with LP?”, regardless of the thread topic. You know something? It’s really tedious, it’s off-topic, and it’s not what this site is about. I suggest you start an ‘LP Watch’ blog for all the people who feel that’s a really interesting topic worth of serious discussion. I’m sure you’ll get at least a dozen readers!
Now, where were we..?
Except of course the taxpayers who made money from it. Hello, it’s me your friendly anonymous callcentre operator. I had more fun last weekend, informing Green Loans assessors about the changes (specifically, there are changes, go to the website, no i can’t answer questions). The responses were telling. Some are threatening massive voter backlash, or suicide (yes really), others have signed atrocious contracts (typically they can’t work as assessors for 12 months after they quit. one guy was getting $80 out of the $200 per assessment booked for him); in general the complaint was “why am I forced to do less jobs?”. The good news was that the Department have belatedly realized it might be a good idea to have their Canberra callcentre expanded to allow assessors to book assessments. Some have been waiting for months.
Many are ma and pa operations, many quit otherwise remunerative jobs to partake in the apparent gold mine. Now that the mine has dried up, they’re angry. It’s hard to have empathy for people who were earning up to $10k a week, but I suspect that selling the loans so hard have left them in the middle of a sandbar in a high tide. The interesting threat a few made was of class actions on behalf of the homeowners missing out on that Green Loan, or simply on behalf of assessors. I doubt that will get anywhere.
Do Jonathan @ 50 and Julia @ 42 have the same IP address, or at least the same domain?
Robert
I saw Kevin Rudd grilled on Thursday night by the red terror, my question is, was Peter Garrett demoted/sacked or did he just fall on his sword under his own volition and hand back the HIP, but not his portfolio.
When the Govt. came into office there was no GFC and suddenly everything changed, entire Govt. policy had to be re-thought immediately.
I think another issue is Peter Garrett’s misuse of federally funded cars. Obviously he’ll just claim he’s doing his job. But I don’t think it’s a very good job he’s doing. Funny that.
Adamite
There need not be deaths. Administrative incompetence – and Green Loans seems to be a prize example – should lead to serious questions.
Ros Kelly lost her job. Why? Vendetta? Maybe, but also she was in charge of allocating some Federal greants, and when questioned about the criteria used….. and the basis of decisions, it turned out nobody had kept notes and “it had all been done on a whiteboard”.
I’m not kidding.
Not good enough Ros, not up to reasonable standards of fairness in deciding who got a grant and who missed out.
The difference between Ros’ scheme and Garrett’s scheme is the bias in allocation of funds.
#3 – I agree, they are deliberately burying it. The problem is, other than ‘ask more questions’, ‘closer involvement’, nobody actually seems to be able to come up with any concrete actions that would have stopped the deaths from occurring. And without Garrett having specially failed to act, or any specific acts that shouldn’t have occurred, I don’t understand his culpability.
Rudd should either support his ministers or demand their resignations. To do a reshuffle at this point smacks of removing Garrett from a line of inquiry, and Rudd should know better.
Getting back to the original post .. as a non involved voter of indeterminate age .. The warnings of impending disarray with the hasty and badly thought out arrangement re the ‘insulation’ scheme were surfacing several months ago. There have been several other ‘embarrassments’ as well.
If Peter Garrett does not have the political nous to successfully hold the position of “Federal Environment Minister” .. then it seems to me that Peter should be relegated to the backbench.
Which brings me to the notion that Kevin Rudd may not have the guts to be a long term Prime Minister. It’s one thing to have ‘grandiose schemes’ and run a ‘Public Service Department’. Quite another to firmly hold the reins of a nation with 22 million people – all with sometimes conflicting aspirations, economies of scale, and interests. It’s all beginning to remind me of Gough Whitlam.
Grace Pettigrew: “Sure boss. Just throw me over there into the briar patch, the one with all the lovely biodiversity and gorgeous art farts. ”
Don’t worry, Grace. We removed the briar last year, there’s now a lush stand of ferns and sedges, so it’ll be a nice, soft landing.
Mr Garrett should be commended for his grasp of systems based ecology. Of course noone much gives a shit about that, but still I’m glad he seems to get it.
Is there anything we don’t all know about insulation now? Gawd, I wish this ‘scandal’ had been about something a little more interesting.
A) Its NOTHING like Gough Whitlam. I wish it were.
Also, Abbott’s continued pursuit of Garrett, now that Rudd has demoted Garrett, just looks vindictive and nasty, and that is how most of the electorate will see it.
Grace Pettigrew @ 30 I read your comment yesterday and nodded to myself, yes that was something like how it might have happened, and I felt reassured.
But today almost every ABC News headline is reporting that “Kevin Rudd says he spoke on the phone to Peter Garrett to inform him of his demotion.” Is that just their take on what he might have said when he answered yes to a question about whether or not he had spoken to PG about the changes? Is Rudd being verballed?
I would have preferred some statement from him, which I feel to be true, that PG’s Department had been unforeseeably and inappropriately overloaded with this program because of the GFC, even more so since problems have developed because of its necessarily hasty implementation. It’s been decided therefore to put it in other hands to allow the Minister to return to the original parameters of his portfolio.
I have felt real concern for Peter Garrett and his family throughout this affair and trust he has been given all the moral support he deserves from his party colleagues and his PM. I’ve said before he’s shown himself to be the real deal here. The ALP is lucky to have him.
Give Peter the “Arts and entertainment” portfolio. The are too many heavies at the “coal face” .. heh.
Saint Furious of Ikea@84: yes, I have totally gone off insulation as a topic of conversation too, and would much rather talk about declining biodiversity, whales, grammar in schools, and the 18th woman now with breast cancer out of that ABC studio in Brisbane. But we must bide our time and study the Ikea catalogue. After all, we have to give the media pack time to climb up out of the hole it dug for itself over the past fortnight (ABC Insiders this morning for example).
PatriciaWA@86: as you have wisely concluded, Peter Garratt is a decent man, a loyal Minister, and an asset to his party, and he will now be able to get on with the job that best suits his talents. My concern is that every bit of mud sticks in politics, and next time there is trouble at the environment mill, he will be bashed over the head with foil insulation and pink batts by the Opposition, as proof that he is terminally incompetent. It will be interesting to watch whether the media pack will again follow, with its usual senseless braying.
Altho I agree largely withthe previous few comments- its serious that Garrett’s position is undermined and no doubt Marn and the other industry lackies will be smirking- but am still proccupied with what is involved, as to “taking responsibility” after Rudd “confession” on 730 Report and then him chopping a subordinate (Garrett, in this case).
I thought when Rudd mournfully proclaimed that he “took responsibility”, that we might be subjected to the dreadful sight of him in sackcloth and ashes, flogged all the way down the Via Dolorosa toward Calvary; the splinters driving themselves cruelly into his lacerated skin.
It is government that sets policy, including IR policy, so Rudd should have copped it, not Garrett, who could only work within the impossible guidleines and procedures allotted him by the zealous application of neolib policy enthusiatically prosecuted by the Labor Right.
Admire Peter Garrett for giving politics a go. He is inexperienced retarding politics and its downfalls and for him it will only get worse. Good time for him to get back into the entertainment industry.
He might be inexperienced retarding politics, but he sure is good at it.
Which is being given far too much oxygen, imo, RX.
I take it you do stand-up for a living, Jonathon. Do the names Downer and Reith the Thief ring any bells for you, not to mention Regional Rortnerships, Vivian Solon, Dr Haneef, Mamdouh Habib, David Hicks, Cornelia Rau, Children Overboard and AWB just for starters?
I have to say I’ve never had a problem with Peter Garrett. I think he handled the insulation roll out well. Unfortunately, the government should have made it absolutely clear that Shamaham, Bolt & co were lying about the so-called “warnings’ by Minter Ellison, instead of letting them get away with their appalling beat up.
The shambles surrounding Mr Garrett’s Dept do not rest on work injuries and deaths, nor on Minter Ellison.
As far as I can see, every opne of his home improvement schemes has been a mess. Not just the foil insulation. A private company engaging in such shenanigans through inadequate call centres and sub-contractors would by now be facing bankruptcy and/or several class actions run by Slater & Gordon (Slugs & Bugs).
The public expects better performance than this by its Federal Govt Depts, but in this case has not seen it. The media took ages to latch on. Senator Christine Milne was speaking of the mess-ups in the Green Loans home assessments, in the Senate several weeks ago. Of course she had a political axe to grind, but she made the case logically and in detail. She seemed concerned both for the householders and the assessors.
Not every attack on a Govt is a media beat-up.
Pointing to mess-ups by other Govts is a weak defence of this one, I feel.
Ambi said:
I am not game to say what “the public expects” here. Such a sweeping and imprecise calim and so difficult to establish.
Clearly, a far better (though far less ambitious) job could have been done. But did “the public” want an ambitious job to be done? Probably, though how would one know? We only have “the media” to fill us in on that.
I heard some old dear on the radio apparently near hysterical that she was about to be on the wrong end of a house fire. Nice one Tony.
Indeed.
“Imprecise and sweeping”, but the PM seems now to agree, more or less.
I hope Greg Combet improves the implementation and transition.
“A private company engaging in such shenanigans through inadequate call centres and sub-contractors would by now be facing bankruptcy and/or several class actions run by Slater & Gordon (Slugs & Bugs).”
Ambi, they have a knack for covering up incompetance, especially the very large companies, where they write it off with the stroke of a pen. ANZ in attempting to organise my Green Loan made approximately 5 mistakes to the point where I was just about tearing my hair out. We were lucky enough to get it through just in time, it seems.
I think the issue of any governments departments ability to deliver programs is fairly open to question now, though. It is worth remembering, at the same time, that it is difficult for a department to fire back in it’s own defense, in the face of a sustained media or opposition barrage. And after the Godwin Grech saga it is also fair to wonder whether any political termites might be burrowing away to undermine smooth service delivery.
joe2:
“And after the Godwin Grech saga it is also fair to wonder whether any political termites might be burrowing away to undermine smooth service delivery.”
Very possible. The party needs to have a good look at this one.
“A private company engaging in such shenanigans through inadequate call centres and sub-contractors would by now be facing bankruptcy and/or several class actions run by Slater & Gordon (Slugs & Bugs).”
You mean like AWB? Or would that be BHP and their briquette plant? Or taking over Anaconda? More likely they would hire their own lawyers and spend their shareholders’ money to cover up their incompetence.
“The public expects better performance than this by its Federal Govt Depts…”
No, actually it expects perfect performance without paying any taxes.
A realistic view of the world is that no organisation is perfect. If you want perfection, you end up doing nothing.
That is true for all political parties.
Despite the facts that there has been no finding yet from the Coroners – people still reckon they know Garrett is to blame. Laughable.
Despite the facts as demonstrated by Possum that there has been no greater or lesser poor safety performance in this project than similar before the program, somehow some people reckon it is worse. Those tee shirts that one used to see with the logo ‘I’ve made up my mind, don’t confuse me with facts’ were supposed to be jokes. Some people obviously took them seriously.
Despite the facts that OH&S legislation is State – people reckon the Feds should be administering it as well? Crikey – Roll On big Government!
The most laughable of all is that the Liberals could do a better job!!! Crazy Barnaby, Mad uncle Tuck, Jail Aussie Citizens Ruddock, Kiddies overboard, Weathervane Abbott, Bumbling Bishop, Petulant Pyne??????????
Actually, that is not the most laughable. The most laughable is that the ALP is not on the attack over this – as it demonstrates that the Libs really have lost the concept of what it means to be in Government.
OMG.
*takes valium*
Ambigulous @ 93
Where have you been hiding? This is actually happening, as a result of sub-standard work!
Allow me to substitute some words:
Ambigulous’ startling naivete needs a confrontation with reality, and I just have two words for him/her – James Hardie.
adrian @ 100 – took a long time, but didn’t they in the end up facing both large lawsuits which they lost as well as the directors face charges in court?
Oooh conspiracy therories! Maybe Peter is secretly a liberal party plant
I think keeping Peter Garrett with some responsibilities is overall a good decision. I actually would have rather they gave Combet to him as an assistant to make sure that programs are implemented properly, whilst Garrett seems to choose the types of programs to run well.
A long time, and how many deaths and counting, Chris?
I think that you’ll find that the Directors’ received banning period and fines, but that the compensation fund set up by Hardies is woefully underfunded.
All of which is beside the point, which is that private industry dooes not always deliver services responsibly, and is not always punished with bankruptcy, even when it behaves in the most despicable way imaginable.
Hardies is doing rather well in the Netherlands I believe.
Marks@98 with you all the way until your last para and agreeing with everything you say. I’m not sure though that being on the attack is the best strategy for the government on this even though as you say it demonstrates that the Libs ‘have lost the concept of what it means to be in Government’. Did they ever have it?
Anyway Rudd and Co surely have their thinking caps on about how to counter their sewer rat attack mode. Becoming more shrill than the Oppposition until those coronial findings are in isn’t going to help them. Aren’t they taking an unusually long time to come through? Does anyone have any idea or info about that?
I mentioned on the Queensland and the Boy thread that I thought Rudd’s m.o. with
the Opposition on this was perhaps informed by a Chinese martial arts defence philosophy i.e. use the attacker’s own impetus to bring him undone. Are the government likely to have any insider info on the coronial investigation which encourages to stand back and wait?
counter for every twist, wrench, pull, push or bend. Only the Judo expert does not oppose such movements at all. No, he yields to them. But he does much more than yield to them. He aids them with a wicked sleight that causes the assailant t
Sorry, careless again. Last para above gobblydegook notes for my earlier comment. Please delete if poss.
Patricia,
Actually your last bit was not gobbledegook really, and is probably more what I should have said perhaps.
For example, a line of ‘attack’ might be to have:
Released the Henry Review. As Joh B-P was wont to observe that ‘feeding the chooks’ of the press usually had them clucking and pecking at whatever he had fed them. If the Govt provided sufficient other news during the obviously lean news time that spawned this insulation affair, then it may not have gained any legs at all. Just imagine the silly stuff that would have come out of Barnaby from that lot.
Do a background press course for the press Gallery on the roles and responsibilities of Government and Ministers. Obviously some deficiencies in that area. I don’t see KO’B and FranK as being either biased or stupid, but they really really should have known better. Knowing now that they do not know what they ought to know, the Government has the resources for educating them – and surely could provide the incentive for them to learn.
The PM by moving with the attack is doing the judo thing – but unless accompanied by some other clip behind the ear as the opposition goes forward is unlikely to be effective.
“Oooh conspiracy therories! Maybe Peter is secretly a liberal party plant”
Oh, so sorry, Chris, the suggestion that Howard might have spent his years doing anything he could to politicise the public service would also be so conspiratorial. And Godwin did not exist and was a figment of my imagination. And for that matter, he favoured the department concerned with the environment, with special treatment, because he so loved nature.
joe2 – I actually think its quite idealistic to believe that all individuals in the public service are going to be able to keep their personal political beliefs totally separate from the job they have to do. Certainly there were people in the public service happy to at the very least leak information in order to derail government plans during the Howard era and not surprisingly people with different personal political beliefs do it now while Labor is in government.
That being said I very much doubt a single person (not at the top) could derail a billion dollar scheme without being noticed. Bit of a problem if there is that little oversight through the management chain.
And Rudd has had a long time to clear out blatantly disloyal people. Not that I believe this problem fundamentally has been the fault of the department – more that they were asked to do a job they simply did not have the capability to do, especially within the time frame they were given. The workers in the department were known as a bit of a bunch of greenies during the Howard years (and they’ve produced some great stuff so I think they’re intent has been good.
Thanks for your lessons attempting to correct my naivete.
Nowhere did I suggest that a private (or public) company wouldn’t try to wriggle out of its legal or moral responsibilities. I’m aware of most of the disgusting instances cited above.
Nonetheless, I feel the range of home improvement schemes Peter Garrett was in charge of were shambolic. I don’t think charges of industrial manslaughter are warranted and I do recognise that very useful energy-saving measures have been installed or advised. But a govt has to achieve much more than avoiding deaths. That’s to “set the bar” way too low.
Nowhere did I say the Libs would have done better.
Saw Garrett on Q&A Monday night 1st March. He looked contrite, almost ashamed, but in his typically dignified way he’s taking one for Kevvie and not whinging.
The insulation program was Kevvie’s brainchild not Garrett’s. Garrett just rubber-stamped it. He didn’t read the Minter Report because Kevvie already had and decreed the scheme a goer.
When the program became a political liability Rudd did the semi-decent thing and took a portion of the blame. As the political costs of the scheme grew higher Rudd had to feed the public some blood and gave them some of Garrett’s hide instead of his own. Garrett is taking it like a trooper.
Garrett will limp on and be divested of all responsibilities except The Arts in which no-one disputes his credentials, and might keep Heritage since there’s zero votes in it.
Rudd could argue pace Possum that technically the scheme was safer than existing insulations coz there were less fires on a pro-rata basis but that would be doing a political Nero and he’d end up looking just about as callous with a negative 50 satisfaction rating.
BTW, did anyone else notice that Garrett was sitting with an EXIT sign prominently over his head during the Q&A program. Fiendish camera-person
Watched Sanctuary instead.