Joyce puts his foot in it again

Barnaby Joyce is in hot water again - for suggesting the federal government can
kickstart the economy by rebuilding houses burnt down under the botched home
insulation program.
In a wide-ranging speech at a business lunch in Sydney, Senator Joyce accused Water
Minister Penny Wong of wasting taxpayers' money with the government's water buy-back
scheme.
Senator Joyce suggested the water purchased under the buy-back scheme - intended to
save the ailing Murray-Darling Basin - was about making a major statement in the
media.
But less than a week after being dumped as the opposition's finance spokesman, the
outspoken Nationals senator was grabbing the headlines - for all the wrong reasons.
Senator Joyce, now the opposition's water spokesman, went on to ridicule the work of
the Productivity Commission, which is set to hand down a report on water recovery in
the basin.
"People actually do read the Productivity Commission reports," he said.
"I don't, I use them when I run out of toilet paper."
Senator Joyce then joked that problems associated with the home insulation program,
which has been linked to the deaths of four people, could be a boon for the economy.
"The ceiling insulation program, maybe, as we speak they are burning down houses. As
we speak there is (sic) calamities happening around the suburbs near where we are,"
he said.
"Maybe that is how they're going to reboot the economy. They've burnt down enough
houses. We can reboot the economy by building them again."
Senator Wong later released a statement saying the comments on the water buy-back
scheme had demonstrated Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's risky judgment in appointing
Senator Joyce as his water spokesman.
"The Productivity Commission is an independent body that was established in 1998 to
advise governments on ways to achieve a more productive economy," Senator Wong said.
Nobody expected Senator Joyce to agree with them all the time, she said.
"However, a member of the shadow cabinet can't use crass insults as a substitute for
real policy work.
"Senator Joyce is clearly just as big a risk in water as he was in finance."