00:03There's been a solar battery boom driven by taxpayer subsidies under Labor's Cheaper
00:09Home Batteries program.
00:11507,651 home batteries installed since the 1st of July last year, half a million.
00:18Untested tip-offs obtained by the ABC under Freedom of Information raise questions about
00:24whether the multi-billion dollar scheme is being rorted.
00:27A solar installer has been allegedly staging jobs and adding extra batteries to make fraudulent
00:34rebate claims, while another company was accused of unpacking battery boxes and stacking them
00:40for compliance photos without installing them.
00:43I was blown away at the brazenness of that.
00:46I was very shocked by those allegations.
00:48There are also multiple claims dodgy operators were using unlicensed tradies to install batteries.
00:54The temptation is there to get cheaper staff to do the battery install and then find an
01:01unscrupulous installer that will sell his signature.
01:04I'm sure that happens and that's really worrying because I really worry about the safety.
01:09While half a million batteries have been installed, the Clean Energy Regulator has inspected only
01:163,600 of them.
01:18If businesses who are doing the wrong thing know that they're not going to be caught out,
01:23then they're more likely to continue doing the wrong thing.
01:26The opposition wants a Senate inquiry.
01:29Given the seriousness of the revelations that has occurred as a result of the unearthing of
01:37these FOI documents, we need an independent inquiry to occur now.
01:43Energy Minister Chris Bowen told the ABC the government has zero tolerance for poor installer
01:49behaviour and a new watchdog is being established.
01:52The Clean Energy Regulator insisted that most companies are doing the right thing and that
01:58it will punish those that aren't.
