Mr Rudd said he appointed Senator Arbib to Parliamentary Secretary to oversee the rollout of the $2.8 billion program, as he would not be distracted by other portfolios and would be a ‘another set of eyes’ overlooking the program.
“Senator Arbib was known as a highly competent, highly effective individual, known for his attention to detail, and with sufficient political standing within the government to perform this challenging role,” Mr Rudd said.
“This is why I appointed him to this position.”
Mr Rudd said he expected Mr Arbib to “keep abreast of the detail” of the Home Insulation Program delivery, and “to be at a reasonable level of drilldown” to form an opinion on the program’s risk assessment.
However, Mr Arbib told the Inquiry earlier this week he was only responsible for selling the scheme, not developing the program.
Mr Arbib who was a major powerbroker at the time and now works for James Packer had a falling out with Mr Rudd after the party removed him as prime minister ahead of the 2010 Federal Election.
In the past Mr Rudd had blamed the Minister Peter Garrett but today’s evidence suggests he also holds the more junior MP also partially responsible.
The former Prime Minister’s long-awaited claims come after he refused to speak at the Inquiry last night without being able to discuss matters of cabinet.
His statement was originally redacted by the Commonwealth as it contained confidential cabinet meeting discussions.
“I have accepted ultimately responsibility, for the scheme and the effect it has had on the lives of those concerned,” Mr Rudd said this morning.
“My view is that you accept responsibility for the good and the bad, for the period of which you are prime minister”.
But Mr Rudd today said he would have made changes to the program if there were safety concerns, claiming those matters were not raised in cabinet.
He also said monthly reports of the program were presented to him as “on track” up until February 2010, despite the deaths of insulators.
However, the former Prime Minister admitted to correspondence with the former Environment Minister Peter Garrett after the first worker was electrocuted.
Mr Rudd also admitted to government “oversight” when his office did not respond to a letter from Mr Garrett, suggesting a compulsory two quote process for homeowners before insulation installation in February 2009.
“All of the families are entitled to feel let down by the system that ultimately didn’t perform”, Mr Rudd said today.
“What I sought to do as prime minister was to create systems of oversight,” Mr Rudd said.
This morning he told the Brisbane Magistrates Court he ‘relied on the advice of those around me’ shifting the blame to both Garrett and Arbib, as he had limited knowledge of the installation process for insulation.
He also added his wife would not consider him a handy man.
The Court has now adjourned and former Labor Minister Greg Combet will testify in the witness box tomorrow morning.
Mr Rudd is returning to the United States this evening, where he is working as a senior fellow at Harvard University.
Related: Rudd takes the stand at home insulation inquiry
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