Broadcaster reported the former PM ignored warnings of risks in home insulation scheme but wasn’t clear if those risks referred to safety concerns

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The ABC has unreservedly apologised to the former prime minister Kevin Rudd for a news report that said he ignored warnings of “critical risks” in the home insulation scheme.

As part of its Cabinet Files series the ABC reported that Rudd and senior Labor MPs were warned in 2009 that their national rollout of subsidised home insulation faced “critical risks”, although the ABC did emphasise it was unclear if the risks referred to safety concerns.

After the story was published Rudd said he was suing the ABC because the report was a lie.

Cabinet documents: ABC reveals top secret files found in old filing cabinets Read more

“Second, the risks referred to in the cabinet document used in the ABC report refer to financial and administrative risks to the program for the commonwealth, not safety risks to workers,” he said.

Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) Here’s my statement on the ABC report on the Home Insulation Program. Abbott's own Royal Commission on HIP made no findings against me. In fact it found that when I was PM, “there was no warning given of the very many problems with the program.” (p.271) https://t.co/Kux0I7AyZg pic.twitter.com/UP6fcGic5F

On Thursday evening the ABC apologised “for any harm or embarrassment caused”.

“On 31 January 2018, ABC News reported on a document prepared in April 2009 for the strategic priorities and budget committee (SPBC) warning of critical risks in the rollout of the energy efficient homes package,” the statement said.

“In reporting on that document, the ABC did not intend to suggest that Mr Rudd recklessly ignored critical risks of the home insulation scheme before the deaths of four young installers or that he lied to the royal commission that examined those deaths.

“The ABC accepts that, as found by the royal commission, Mr Rudd was not warned of, and was not aware of critical safety risks at the time.

“The royal commission made no adverse findings against Mr Rudd and there is no suggestion that Mr Rudd lied to the commission.”

Earlier in the week Rudd also received an apology from Chris Smith and Janet Albrechtsen on 2GB and 4BC through the Macquarie Radio Network. Smith said the story “was not the smoking gun many people thought it was”.

The royal commission into the pink batts scheme found there was no warning given to Rudd.