Former prime minister Kevin Rudd has been called to give evidence at a class action in Victoria over his government's pink batts scheme.
The Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday ordered Mr Rudd give evidence via video link from New York during the trial, which began in late April and is expected to last six weeks.
The class action over the abrupt cancellation in 2010 of the Rudd government's home insulation program is seeking about $150 million in damages from the Commonwealth of Australia.
More than 140 businesses have joined the class action, which claims they suffered heavy losses when the program was shut down for safety reasons as a result of the government's negligence.
The 2009 Rudd government established the $2.7 billion Home Insulation Program as part of a broader $42 billion economic stimulus package.
But it was shut down a year later following the deaths of four workers in NSW and Queensland in 2009 and 2010.
When the trial opened on April 23, class action barrister Jim Delany QC said the market for retrofitting homes with insulation totalled less than 70,000 homes annually before the scheme.
The program promised to fit 2.2 million homes over a two-year period, representing about a 15-fold increase in demand.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (left) and former Environment Minister Peter Garrett in 2011. Source: AAP
The market was created and controlled by the Commonwealth, and scores of businesses were left financially devastated when the government program was abruptly shut down, the court was told.
The class action says businesses took on staff, expanded production and invested in new machinery and other equipment to meet demand.
A royal commission in 2014 found the four deaths would not have occurred if the scheme had been properly designed and implemented.
Mr Rudd also took the witness stand during the royal commission.
No date has been set for his appearance in the Supreme Court but it's not expected until at least late May.
