[8] Sweeney, a 22-year-old experienced insulation installer, was similarly electrocuted due to a metal staple contacting live electrical wiring.
The wiring had been unusually placed during construction of the building, and subsequently, a screw used to attach fibreboard to the batten had penetrated its sheath, creating a dangerous hazard for anyone entering the roof space with the mains power switched on.
However, the high ambient temperature and the strenuous work involved with lifting fibreglass "pink batts" into the roof space appear to have caused Wilson to become dehydrated.
The findings by the deputy coroner Hugh Dillon carefully avoided any political aspects and focused on the immediate circumstances of the incident.
Because of the publicity given to that program and this inquest's slight connection with it, I will touch on it very briefly.A subsequent inquest by the Queensland coroner, Michael Barnes, a former tabloid journalist who worked for Rupert Murdoch,[10] found that the risk of electrocution "was not appreciated" by government authorities at the outset of the home insulation program, despite it being raised by industry representatives.
Because a major focus of this program was the stimulation of the economy to counter the effects of the global financial crisis it needed to proceed far more quickly than that, but not at the cost of human life.
In Victoria, which has a high proportion of household gas space heating, a study on gas heating concluded that "the HIP program led to a reduction in energy consumption equivalent to delaying consumption growth by two years at a calculated abatement cost of AUD 238/tonne CO2-e, assuming no indirect or economy-wide rebound; however, any reduction in daily peak demand is not evident using the linear regression peak demand analysis.
[19] In March 2010 the Federal Government announced a proposal to remove foil insulation or make it safe from 50,000 houses and undertake another 150,000 inspections.
[20] In March 2011, 35 search warrants were executed targeting alleged fraud by businesses and individuals in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister, Greg Combet, stated that the Government is to pursue those alleged unscrupulous operators who had fraudulently abused this program.
In his report, McPhee stated that as problems mounted, the then minister, Peter Garrett, did not have his requests for information answered promptly and then, when it was provided, it was "overly optimistic" and contained factual errors.
[23] In May 2010, the Federal Government announced that it would give cash handouts of up to $500,000 to insulation companies affected by the abolition of the rebate scheme.
[24] On 6 May 2010, the Queensland's Department of Justice and Attorney-General charged QHI Installations (based in Beenleigh), its director, and its manager under the Electrical Safety Act, 2002 (QLD).
[26] On 12 December 2013, the Attorney-General George Brandis and the Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt announced that the Governor-General has authorised the establishment of a Royal Commission to "inquire and report into the deaths, serious injuries and impacts on longstanding home insulation businesses alleged to have arisen from the (Home Insulation) Program".