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Campaign launched to avoid batts repeat

The father of a young man who died in a roof during Labor’s home insulation program has suggested former prime minister Kevin Rudd should have been more involved in the botched scheme.

Mr Rudd and his former environment minister Peter Garrett this week gave evidence at the $20 million royal commission into the program’s flaws.

They have each admitted ultimate responsibility, but have insisted public servants didn’t do enough to warn them of risks.

Kevin Fuller, whose son Matthew Fuller was the first to die during the rollout, says he thinks Mr Rudd and Mr Garrett have both tried to provide complete accounts, but has suggested he’s unimpressed with what was said.

“Were we happy with the whole info they were able to give and how little they sometimes were engaged in the whole program?” a teary-eyed Mr Fuller asked before trailing off and shrugging his shoulders.

Mr Fuller will give evidence to the royal commission later on Friday.

He spent the morning helping launch a public awareness campaign to warn the public about the dangers of working in ceiling spaces.

His son was electrocuted while laying insulation sheeting in a ceiling cavity of a house in Meadowbrook, south of Brisbane, on October 14, 2009.

He said being involved in the campaign helped ensure Matthew’s death wasn’t in vain.

“We’ve lost our only son,” he said.

“We’ll never get over it.”

Mr Fuller said he never wanted another family to suffer the pain of an avoidable death.

The safety campaign, which focuses specifically on electrical risks, involves a $1.3 million blitz including radio, print and billboard advertising from Sunday.

The campaign was a key recommendation from a coronial inquiry into the death of Mr Fuller and fellow Queenslanders Rueben Barnes and Mitchell Sweeney. A fourth man, Marcus Wilson, also died in NSW during the rollout.

Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said the government would also look at another recommendation – installing electrical safety switches in circuit boxes – after the royal commission hands down its findings.

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