Australian Federal Government Failure: The Rise and Fall of the Home Insulation Program

Abstract

Controversy surrounded the recent ill-fated Commonwealth Government's Home Insulation Program (HIP) from the outset and continues after the HIP was abruptly halted. Public disquiet has been aroused not only by the death and injury which has resulted from the HIP, but also the perceived waste of public funds. Drawing on the Hawke Review (2010) of the HIP, this article examines the HIP through the analytical lenses of the government failure paradigm as well as the literature on decentralisation and economic efficiency. It is argued that the HIP represents a "case study" of how governments should not pursue public expenditure programmes.