Garrett won't quit over failed scheme

A defiant Peter Garrett is refusing to resign over his axed insulation program,
instead accusing the opposition of scaremongering with exaggerated claims about
safety risks.
On Monday, the environment minister stared down coalition demands for his head and
promised "to continue".
"I take safety seriously and I take the effective delivery of programs seriously and
I'm going to continue to do that job in my capacity as minister," Mr Garrett told
parliament.
Mr Garrett has faced an onslaught during the past fortnight over whether he should
have acted earlier on problems with the government's failed insulation program,
which has been linked to four deaths.
He faced a censure motion from the opposition - which failed on party lines - and
was the target of all coalition questioning in question time.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told Mr Garrett "enough is enough".
"It is now time to take responsibility and resign," he said.
"We have seen him ... doing anything to try to save his political hide rather than
addressing the serious problems that are now absolutely manifest in the programs
that he has been administering."
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has, so far, stood by his minister in the absence of a
"smoking gun" to bring him down and there are no signs he is planning to cut him
loose.
But the opposition did little to help its aspiration to claim a ministerial scalp,
with its campaign against Mr Garrett patchy and lacking a strategic focus.
Mr Garrett stood firm as the coalition failed to pin him down over how much he knew
of the safety warnings contained in a report by Minter Ellison.
"The full Minter Ellison report was received by me this year and that is the first
occasion that I read and saw that report in its entirety," Mr Garrett told
parliament.
Delivered to the environment department last April, the Minter Ellison report
catalogues a range of possible hazards with the hastily-rolled out program.
"The totality of advice I've received ... I've responded to," Mr Garrett said.
And he tried to turn the tables on the opposition, whom he accused of creating fear
among homeowners.
He cautioned Mr Abbott against "extrapolating from interim results" to create
apprehension "that each and every ceiling is of an order to be identified as having
a specific risk".
While the coalition was gunning for Mr Garrett, the government hit back with charges
of "recklessness" against the opposition, focusing on its rejection of changes to
the private health insurance rebate.
Mr Rudd said the opposition was blocking billions of dollars that should be going to
health reform.
"This is absolutely fundamental to the future funding of the reforms and expansion
of the system that we need, a system that is already under considerable stress," he
said.
The Australian Greens are negotiating with the government over a means test for the
rebate but it's looking unlikely Labor will find a compromise to appease all seven
cross-bench senators.
If rejected a second time, it will become another trigger for an election, as could
youth allowance laws now before the Senate.
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard warned Mr Abbott the youth allowance bill would
be a test of his leadership.
"Will (he) step up to his responsibilities to ensure that legislation passes this
parliament which enables us to pay fair student income support to the students who
need it the most," she said.