showdan

Bugger!

Got my quotes done for insulation last week, due to have it installed on Friday. Insulation company just contacted us to inform us that as of close of play on friday (19th) government has pulled the plug on the $1200 rebate (that will teach me to get my finger out sooner).

He said rumour has it, it will return in about 6 months but will only be $1000, said it was a complete surprise to them, now they have wasted lots of money on advertising and will have loads of stock they can't shift, due to everyone now cancelling.

ABCDiamond

The new plan is to allow the customer to choose the installer, and pay the installer direct, and then claim the $1,000 rebate back.

The advantage of this is that the Government can wash its hands of any responsibility, if anything else goes wrong in the future.

That guy Garrett has his head screwed on right........

Oh.... for a hung parliament.......

Anyone for a game of hang man ?

Pomster

Mr P was an installer and this caught everyone by surprise.

He and a few colleagues are now left with stock of batts which are worthless and no-one will install before new system comes in around june.

Basically Garrett has made about 6000 installers unemployed and has screwed all the supply businesses like Tontine etc.
I think he should resign as he is a complete idiot and has no idea.

NedKelly

He has just scrapped the $10,000 green loans as well. Maybe he is clearing the decks before they sack him.

TheSun

It had to be stopped. It was a total rort. A typical $500 job all of a sudden cost $1600. Installers were getting killed and houses were burning down, shame because it really wasn't a bad idea it was just very poorly executed.

Vash the Stampede

It was not a rort. The government insisted that householders should get a minimum of two quotes. Anyone who paid over the odds for insulation only had themselves to blame for it.

My mate runs an insulation company (he's been in the game for 10 years) and he undercut the competition on a regular basis simply by sticking to his original prices. The dodgy guys quoting silly numbers weren't doing themselves any favours.

Pomster

Not sure how big a house would be to only be $500 - the material alone costs $40-60 a bag (depending on material) to cover about 4 lineal meters. So a moderate house would probably be $800 in material requirements.

your statement that "installers were getting killed" -refers to the 4 young unqualified people paid min wage with no training who were killed. There were some very unscrupulous people, but the majority were fair tradespeople who took pride in their jobs.
Over a million installations were done to provide some scale.

spalen

This is a fabulous textbook example of the Australian Media and Politics what a quality mob they are.

Bunch of muppets start installing dodgy stuff to rip people off and the govt gets the blame.

I saw one of those who was killed was "only given four days training" how much training do you need to put some stuff on a roof and staple it in ? perhaps a three year degree?

Its awful that people died - but for crying out loud why it was Garrett's fault is beyond me. Aussie media are a joke as are the people calling for Garrett to resign over it. And here comes the unions and self interested parties - the head of the "metal insulation trade body" was calling for "All insulation to be stopped until proper safety can be identified" - why - so that it wasnt just his stuff that was thrown in the skip .

Surely the root cause here is 1) dodgy electricians (despite the continual bitching and moaning that the electricians have to be certified...really...?) and 2) some dufus putting metal staples through metal sheets into electricity cables and not thinking that was going to cause a problem... jeebus.

I dont support Kevin or his team of tax grabbers and robin-hood merchants but this hounding is laughable.

As for the quotation system - Im damn sure everyone would have put their rates up because the market was now willing to pay it - thats called market economics. If you are a genuine company - then great - extra profit, if you are a cowboy - wow fantastic - now whereis my stapler with the metal staples......

Nobody was made redundant as a result of Garrett's actions - Jobs were created - and have now been taken away for a short period. ALL of those jobs were short term this entire program was always temporary. IT was always a get-quick-rich scheme and never a long term sustainable business model.

bcworld

My thoughts exactly!

I have been trying to work out if I was missing something here because I really couldn't understand why this was all being laid at Garrett's feet.

It was a reasonable idea...keep some people in work or create some jobs, while at the same time tackling energy efficiency in the home - meeting some green objectives too. As usual I think Abbott is making himself look like an absolute tit over this.

The Bloke

The media aren't baying for Garrett's head. They are only reporting the calls from the Federal Opposition for him to resign or be sacked-it's called politics.....Plus the fact that Garrett admitted only reading an important report 13 days ago, which was handed to his office months ago, shows his inexperience as a politician/Minister. Anyone who is ultimately in charge of the project, should have at least read the report when it was handed to his office, especially one that is such a high profile.
It may have been a get rich quick scheme, but it was poorly administered by his department, and as Minsiter, he should take some responsibilty. Even if he was sacked or resigned, he would be be back to the front-bench in 6 months or so.

spalen

how many people do you think are in Garrett's organisation - 5,000? 4,000? its not 5 or 4 - so no I dont buy that argument.

I particularly resented the pillocks calling for him to be at some technical meeting rather than launching a eco-thing somewhere off up north.

kporte

My lot did a great job and cleaned up spotlessly afterwards. Cost me $15 over the grant

TheSun

Good on your mate if he's a legitimate installer and probably one of he few who does a good job, but there's a lot who a few months ago were postmen and office workers. Its small business like your mates that i feel sorry for getting screwed by cowboys.
2 quotes? eh. All of the "installers" -"aaaaaaardvark insulation etc".. putting flyers through my door were quoting off of google earth and offering to install for free using backpackers as labour.

The Bloke

As Minister, he is ultimately responsible, so the buck stops with him. I think you can't accept the fact that he has been caught out by his inexperience.

NedKelly

A friend of mine had this stuff installed and reckons it gets too hot in her house now so she is thinking of getting it removed.