Two days after his son was electrocuted stapling foil insulation in a roof cavity as part of the federal government's stimulus program, Kevin Fuller started searching for answers online.

''I punched in foil, electricity and staples and you know what came up? Two or three deaths in New Zealand,'' he told the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program on Friday. ''If I can find that out in 30 seconds, why didn't the Australian government?''

"Cannon fodder": Matthew Fuller.

In just two sentences, Mr Fuller, whose son was the first installer to die, had neatly summed up much of what the commission into the Rudd government's failed Home Insulation Program (HIP) had so far uncovered.

In some ways it was little surprise, as the 60-year-old logistics manager had played a major role in lobbying for the commission and had spent nearly every day watching its proceedings from the public gallery.