Energy Efficiency Minister Penny Wong is embarrassingly sitting on a long overdue review into the Rudd/Gillard Government’s failed Green Loans Program, it has been revealed today.
As thousands of trained assessors misled by the Government remain in limbo, the so-called Faulkner Review is among several that Senator Wong has indicated she would consider before finalising additional assessor contracts under the mismanaged Program.
Senator Wong’s own Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency today gave evidence to a Senate inquiry into the Program that the Faulkner Review has been provided to her office.
“This should be embarrassing to Penny Wong, who told the Senate in March that this review would report in April, yet last month in response to a Senate ‘order to produce’ advised only that it had not yet been completed,” Senator Simon Birmingham said today.
Senator Birmingham, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Action, moved for the Senate inquiry and is participating in it, including today’s hearing in Sydney.
“This Government has incompetently overseen the training at assessors’ own expense of thousands more assessors than it ever intended to contract,” Senator Birmingham said.
“These assessors have been left in limbo and without a contract for months while the Government announced review after review.
“Now that we know at least one of these reviews has been provided to Senator Wong, she should have the decency to make its findings public rather than attempt to hide the extent of mismanagement that has hurt thousands of people and cost millions of dollars.
“Green Loans has been a monumental breach of promise and a monumental case of mismanagement by the Rudd/Gillard Government, delivering just over 7000 of the 200,000 loans Labor promised at the 2007 election and hurting thousands of people.
“Penny Wong has failed to deliver on any of her promises to fix a mess created by Peter Garrett.
“Debacles like this Labor mess can only be avoided by changing the Government.”