PM apologises over insulation deaths

Accused of lacking sympathy, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has publicly apologised to
the four families who lost loved ones under the government's ill-fated roof
insulation program.
But facing a new barrage of criticism over his handling of the botched $2.45 billion
scheme - originally designed to prop up the economy - Mr Rudd's denied that jobs
were put ahead of safety.
The government is again copping flak following new whistleblower claims that
bureaucrats within the environment department were told directly to focus on job
creation.
The insulation scheme, axed last week, is now the focus of multiple reviews after
being linked to the deaths of four installers, more than 120 house fires and
thousands of electrified roofs.
"Safety has always been the number one priority," Mr Rudd told reporters in Sydney.
"There have been real problems with the implementation ... let's just call a spade a
spade.
"Our job now is to deal with the problems on the ground ... that's why we
commissioned the Hawke review, that's why various other reviews are under way as
well.
"We will, of course, respond to their recommendations."
But despite having defended the scheme's rollout, Mr Rudd was forced into issuing a
very public apology after the family of Matthew Fuller - the first installer to die
under the scheme - complained about the prime minister's lack of sympathy during a
face-to-face meeting.
"Even 'sorry for your loss' would've been good," Mr Fuller's father, Kevin, told
ABC's Four Corners program.
Opposition climate change spokesman Greg Hunt labelled the prime minister a creep
for failing to apologise in person.
"Any decent leader, any leader of souls, would have looked at them and said, 'I'm
sorry'."
Mr Rudd, when asked on Tuesday if he regretted not saying sorry, replied that "any
human being must feel regret and sorrow".
"The government and ministers, and myself, are deeply sorry for the loss of life
which has occurred," he said.
"That goes to the loss in the Fuller family and in the other families as well."
The government remains in full damage control following the scrapping of the scheme,
and is offering millions to workers and businesses in assistance funding.
The coalition, meanwhile, is continuing its attack on the government's clean-up
efforts, saying it's not enough.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was in Brisbane on Tuesday visiting Higgins
Insulation, one of many companies that says it fears imminent closure.
It's already dumped 70 staffers nationally and jobs have all but dried up.
"There are also hundreds if not thousands of businesses which are in a dire
financial situation because they relied on the government's promises," Mr Abbott
said.
He wants the government to come clean on exactly how early it knew about the risk of
fatalities, calling on Mr Rudd to release the four letters exchanged between him and
the former minister in charge of the scheme, Peter Garrett.
"We need to find out how far up the line those warnings went, and if anything was
done in response to those warnings," Mr Abbott said.
"If he is to be a man of integrity and honour he must now table those letters."