After a tense day yesterday in Question Time — including Opposition leader Tony Abbott’s attack saying Garrett is in “electrocution denial” — it seems that Environment Minister Peter Garrett’s ministerial life will live to see another day.
But with news that Mark Arbib was also involved in the insulation program, orders for 160,000 houses to be checked for safety issues, and talk of jobs lost, the problem isn’t over for Garrett yet.
How the pundits see it:
Sydney Morning Herald
Miranda Devine: Like a pink batt out of hell, Garrett absorbs the heat
But Garrett is the government’s human pink batt, insulating Rudd and his cabinet from the heat. For no other reason he’s hanging on.
National Times
Tony Wright “The Goanna”: A desperate man finds help in a street fighter
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd appears in no mood to put Garrett out of his misery. Could that be to insulate himself from the charge that in his rush to shovel billions into the economy, he foisted a poorly planned scheme upon an environment department that had no idea how to handle it?
The Australian:
Dennis Shanahan: Bad likely to get worse for minister
This issue is no longer within the confines of parliament — it’s out in the community. It can get worse, much, much worse.
Courier-mail
Dennis Atkins: Insulation batt controversy has run its course
As it stands, the political caravan looks ready to move on.
Elswhere
North Coast Voices: It’s the greed, stupid!
It was those business owners who contracted with householders to install roof insulation (and sometimes then sub-contracted the work to unskilled individuals) who are responsible for the dangerous manner in which some of this insulation was laid down.
Larvatus Prodeo, Robert Merkel: Lessons from the insulation stuff-up
Spending so much money, so quickly, is always going to result in some of it being misallocated. But the big picture was that the stimulus package worked, and worked exceptionally well.
Nice header!!
It seems to me, that like climate change (or otherwise!!), views are (generally), split along political lines.
Unfortunately for me, I find myself in agreement with some of the most odious creatures ever to slither across the face of the earth!
Time for a shower.
Views are indeed fixed along the lines of :
‘mainsteam media journo’s keeping their jobs by toeing the approved line’ i.e. govt. bash (or in this case Garrett bash),
or for those more independent and therefore honestly looking at the issue and not the politics: ‘the reality is that people took advantage of a govt windfall and people died because of it’.
As far as I know we tend not to blame the weapon when someone is murdered, but the person holding it. Ever seen a gun or knife on trial? It is the person using it that is at fault. To my mind, that places the onus on the installers.
Let’s face it, the opposition needs to manufacture issues to gain traction. It might work initially, but when they continue to flog a dead horse, the electorate, who seem to have a very short attentions span these days, moves on and gets bored. Look at what happened to Turnbull over utegate … they went too far and it came back to bite them. ABbott will find it happens the same here — his confected outrage will wear thin.
Actually, @jenauthor, you’re right. If a knife or gun is bought legally, do we charge the salesperson? Minister Garrett gave the weapon to these people, but in good faith. They squandered it. Not him.
@jenauthor: best point so far…
electrocution denial”
thats scary considering his chat to us last week on ????
Abbott is an uter uter uter digrace
And i notice a lot of people are blogging they are sick sick of abbott
and bored by his repetition.
and you know what crickey we are too change the subject please please.
we will still read you , you dont have to be worry if we dont see a simialr headline to the
what is there name O the ABC