About those fires…

Not according to the CSIRO, as reported and analysed by Crikey of April 24, 2011. In fact, there were fewer house fires during the program than before it.

What? Yes. Crikey actually looked at the CSIRO's figures and did the maths. The conclusion was that, even being conservative about it, 'The Home Insulation Program reduced the short term fire rate by approximately 70% compared to what was happening before it.'

As Crikey reported: 'The Home Insulation program was over three times safer than the industry it replaced in terms of the numbers of fire experienced within 12 months of getting insulation installed.'

Again up to its elbows in CSIRO figures, Crikey said it also looked as though the long-term prospect for house fires was much improved as a result of the Home Insulation Program.

Clearly, it took Crikey a bit of time in reading and frowning to examine these figures and come to the obvious conclusions, something that alarmingly few journalists in the mainstream media did either at the time, or have done since. Still, polite enquiries at the CSIRO would no doubt bring forth the data, or you could read Crikey's excellent examination.

Which brings us back to the helpful man sent to me, and many, many others, by the government. Yes, on the one hand, it shows there was concern about how well (or if) the service was being provided. And yes, problems arose from the haste with which the stimulus package itself was put together. Crises necessitate immediate action, after all, where most major government projects take years in the planning.

This Program was probably where most fraying was in evidence during those frantic days, clearly due to the lack of regulation in the industry. The shonkiness of an inadequately regulated industry was brought to the fore – a dangerous lack of regulation bequeathed to an unsuspecting nation by, you guessed it, John Howard's Liberal government.

The need for regulation was clear, and the Labor government then tackled what had been uncovered, saving lives in the process.

And the number of house fires due to the installation of insulation diminished. Perhaps because there were people going into those dusty roof cavities and reporting what they found to householders.