As one of the first voices to be heard urging the Government of the day to tread cautiously with the insulation program, NECA wholeheartedly supports the decision for a judicial enquiry into the four unnecessary deaths during the rollout of the Home Insulation Program.

“The primary driver for our industry – which employs more than 50,000 people across Australia, is safety,” says NECA chief executive James Tinslay.

“As soon as we heard of the Government’s plans in 2009 to role this initiative out so rapidly we pointed out that there were huge safety risks. But sadly, our voice was not heard – despite writing to all the key ministers involved.“

Now that a decision has been made for a judicial enquiry NECA will support the Government in any way it can.

“We can’t afford for something like this to happen again. Any work involving electricity needs to be managed with great care. The work needs to be carried out by qualified electrical contractors who know what they are doing. When you factor in the hundreds of fires also associated with this insulation program you realise just how reckless the decision to ignore the advice of industry experts really was. And that is exactly why we are fighting the previous Government’s decision to ‘dumb down’ national licensing for our industry. That battle is by no means over.”