he insulation royal commission has heard that the Federal Environment Department withheld crucial warnings about the danger of foil insulation from then minister Peter Garrett.
The Brisbane hearing was told that after the first installer Matthew Fuller died in late 2009, the bureaucracy received fresh warnings about similar deaths in New Zealand years earlier, which had prompted a ban on foil insulation.
Commissioner Ian Hanger asked the scheme's former technical advisor Kathy Belka why she did not include this information in a brief to the minister.
"Why isn't the minister told: 'Someone died, he put a staple through foil, and this has happened a number of times in New Zealand! I'm sorry we didn't know this before minister, but we know it now. For heaven's sake - do something!' What am I missing?
Ms Belka replied: "I don't know, I really can't recall ever knowing that information.
"I know I'm cc'd on the email but we'd be getting hundreds of emails a day - thousands of them, yeah."
The commission heard that the briefing note to Mr Garrett said electricians wanted foil insulation banned but the industry did not and the bureaucracy supported its continued use.
Ms Belka helped write the brief and apologised that she could not remember why Mr Garrett was not told three men had died in New Zealand in similar circumstances.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/23275555/insulation-royal-commission-bureaucrat-admits-minister-peter-garrett-kept-in-dark-on-foil-safety-warnings/
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