The ABC has issued a grovelling apology to former prime minister Kevin Rudd after it wrongly accused him of ignoring safety risks in the bungled home insulation scheme.
The national broadcaster’s managing director Michelle Guthrie sent him a letter apologising for a January story which incorrectly asserted he was warned about the occupational hazards of his stimulus package program in 2009.
‘I wish to unreservedly apologise to you on behalf of the ABC,’ Michelle Guthrie’s letter, dated April 27, said.
ABC boss Michelle Guthrie (pictured) has issued a grovelling apology to former Labor PM Kevin Rudd after it wrongly accused him of ignoring home insulation scheme safety risks
The national broadcaster sent Kevin Rudd a letter apologising for a January story which incorrectly asserted he was warned about the occupational hazards of his insulation scheme
Rueben Barnes (pictured), a first-year carpentry apprentice, was just 16 when he was electrocuted at a home near Rockhampton in central Queensland in 2009
‘Please accept this apology as a genuine reflection of the ABC’s concern over the matter and the harm caused.’
Matthew Fuller, Rueben Barnes, Marcus Wilson and Mitchell Sweeney died in 2009 and 2010 installing roof insulation in New South Wales and Queensland.
However, the ABC accepted Mr Rudd had not received warnings from senior public servants about the risks of the subsidy scheme, which was implemented in February 2009 as part of the Rudd government’s broader $42 billion stimulus package to ward off the effects of the global financial crisis.
‘I also wish to restate that the ABC accepts you were not warned of and were not aware of the critical safety risks at the relevant time,’ Ms Guthrie said.
Mitchell Sweeney was 22 when he died after being electrocuted installing home insulation in a roof at Cairns, in far north Queensland, in February 2010
Matthew Fuller was 25 in October 2009 when he became the first of four men killed installing home insulation at Logan, south of Brisbane
The ABC noted the 2014 royal commission into the home insulation scheme had not made any adverse findings against Kevin Rudd (pictured arriving at Brisbane Magistrates Court in 2014)
The letter, obtained by Fairfax Media, also noted the royal commission into the home insulation scheme, established in December 2013 by Kevin Rudd’s Liberal successor Tony Abbott, had not made any adverse findings against the former Labor PM.
‘As you are of course aware, that position is supported by the fact that the royal commission made no adverse findings against you nor did it conclude that you were responsible for the tragic deaths that occurred,’ it said.
Before that January story was published, Kevin Rudd’s legal advisers had told the ABC that no adverse findings had been made against the former Labor prime minister by the 2014 royal commission, presided over by Brisbane barrister Ian Hanger.
‘I acknowledge the frustration this has caused,’ Michelle Guthrie said.
Marcus Wilson was 19 when he died of heat exhaustion installing home insulation in a roof at St Clair in western Sydney in November 2009
The ABC accepted Kevin Rudd had not received warnings from senior public servants about the risks of the subsidy scheme, which was implemented in February 2009