John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to present this motion to the parliament. This motion is named in honour of the late Bernie Banton, the inspirational anti-asbestos campaigner who lost his battle to mesothelioma almost three years ago today. Despite his terminal illness, he fought so that the health disaster caused by asbestos was exposed and stopped. He fought for the rights and safety of his co-workers and their families and for justice to bring those responsible to account. I had the great honour of knowing Bernie and I know his courageous widow Karen, who continues Bernie’s fight against the devastating effects of asbestos related disease. I have witnessed a courageous Australian who believed in doing what is right and fighting not only for himself but for everyone affected by asbestos.

In this chamber we are all well aware of the David and Goliath style battle between James Hardie and victims of asbestos, including Bernie Banton. With the assistance of the unions, Bernie, Barry Robson, President of the Asbestos Disease Foundation of Australia, and other sufferers were successful in their fight for recognition, justice and compensation. Through their courage they helped raise awareness about the dangers of asbestos. Governments, trade unions and individuals such as Bernie Banton have all played important roles in raising awareness of asbestos and in banning the sale and use of asbestos and asbestos products in Australia.

Although Australia has banned asbestos, the very alarming fact is that, despite the evidence of the very adverse and lasting health effects of asbestos, it is estimated that the world production of asbestos is still more than two million tonnes a year. That is why, today, I have moved this motion and, most importantly, that this House express its concern about countries such as Canada that continue to export asbestos to countries such as India and many other countries in South Asia. Further, we express our concerns that efforts to list chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Treaty, which requires importing countries to be warned of the risks associated with hazardous substances and products, have been blocked by countries such as Canada.

Armed with our experience of asbestos, Australia should lead the international efforts to ban the sale, mining and use of all forms of asbestos throughout the world. Many medical and scientific articles highlight the severe risks posed by asbestos and should serve as a haunting example to the rest of the world. As I have stated before in this place, it may only take one asbestos fibre to cause an asbestos related disease, decades after initial exposure. The more one is exposed to asbestos particles, the greater the risk of developing and asbestos related disease in the future. The prognosis for mesothelioma is chilling. The average life expectancy from diagnosis to death is 152 days and treatment options are very limited.

The Bernie Banton Foundation estimates that by 2020 some 40,000 Australians will have contracted asbestos related cancer. Alarmingly, it has been reported that the national incidence rates for mesothelioma in Australia are the highest in the world. That is why I have worked with my community to raise awareness and improve the lives of those affected. In 2007 I joined Bernie Banton’s fight to get mesothelioma treatment, Alimta, listed under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. After a very successful campaign, which collected over a thousand signatures in my electorate alone, the former health minister approved Alimta under the PBS for all asbestos disease sufferers to help improve and prolong their lives.

My community also supports the campaign for an international ban on the mining, sale and use of asbestos—also through a petition. The local petition received overwhelming support with more than 1,000 signatures collected. Many petitions were returned with notes and letters containing personal stories of lives affected by asbestos and noting the need to stop this from ever happening again to innocent people.

The Bernie Banton Centre is located in the grounds of Concord Repatriation Hospital in my electorate of Reid. The federal government has provided significant funding for the establishment of the centre and I have the pleasure of knowing its Director, Professor Nico van Zandwijk. Important research is being conducted at the centre to discover treatments for asbestos related diseases and, one day, a cure.

Despite the ban on asbestos in Australia there is still great concern about the continued threat asbestos poses to all Australians. In an interview with Heath Gilmore, of the Sydney Morning Herald, Professor van Zandwijk expressed his concern at the very real risk that Australians still face from environmental exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was historically a threat to those who had been exposed through their work; more recently, it has been a threat through the increase in the number of home renovations and demolitions being done without the necessary precautions. Professor van Zandwijk fears that future generations will have to deal with asbestos related diseases contracted from environmental exposure, including from contaminated landfill material being unearthed. He said:

We don’t know the level of potential exposure and we need to develop a greater understanding. It is a matter of increasing awareness and developing a register of where this is happening.

We have a duty to ensure that we are vigilant at every level of government to safely dispose of asbestos and prevent new generations from falling victim to such a deadly disease. If the effects of asbestos in Australia are not compelling enough, let us have a look around the world. An article published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in July this year states that an estimated 20,000 asbestos related lung cancers and 10,000 cases of mesothelioma occur annually across the populations of Western Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Japan and Australia. It is estimated that, in Britain alone, mesothelioma will claim 90,000 lives by 2050 and asbestos will account for more than half of all birth related cancer deaths.

Although 52 countries have banned all forms of asbestos, many more developing nations still import and use this deadly product. There is strong evidence that all forms of asbestos cause asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer and laryngeal cancer and may even cause ovarian and gastrointestinal cancer. Further, for more than 20 years asbestos has been declared a human carcinogen by respected health organisations such as the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. Moreover, scientific communities overwhelmingly agree that there is no safe level of exposure to any form of asbestos and, therefore, no reason to exempt a type of asbestos from a worldwide ban.

The most important factor, I believe, in the call for an international ban is the fact that the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives is preventable. Safer alternative materials and products have replaced asbestos, so there is no need to continue using this deadly material. However, many believe that the political and economic influence of the mining and manufacturing industry has prevented a worldwide ban. Surely, preventable loss of life must take precedence over economic gain and Australia must continue to speak out on the danger of asbestos to the lives of others around the world. We know all too well the serious cost to the environment, our health system and our community of not speaking out against such a catastrophe occurring in other less developed nations. Sadly, countries such as Russia, China, Brazil, Canada and Zimbabwe continue to produce large amounts of asbestos. Countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa still use asbestos—including China, India, Thailand, Vietnam and the Ukraine—and will likely see a significant increase in the number of men, women and children affected by asbestos related diseases.

This could be prevented if all forms of asbestos were banned worldwide. The Rotterdam convention is an international agreement to help regulate global trade in hazardous chemicals that are either banned or severely restricted due to their serious effects on humans and the environment. The convention was established to help protect countries—in particular, developing countries—from importing such hazardous chemicals without prior informed consent. Effectively, prior informed consent is legally binding to ensure that governments are aware of the health and environmental risks before they import materials regulated under the convention. Under the conference regulations a hazardous material can be listed only if there is unanimous agreement of the 131 nations which are parties to the convention. At the 2008 conference an attempt to list chrysotile, the most prevalent type of asbestos, was opposed. I note that more than 100 countries tried to list chrysotile on the Rotterdam convention list. However, not surprisingly, the few countries opposed to listing chrysotile are the same countries that still use asbestos.

One former constituent, Mr Ralf Kluin, who has followed my anti-asbestos campaign, wrote to me and responded to my motion with the following:

Vested capitalist/industrial interests, dealing in dangerous material, for nothing other than for blatant self interest, exposing unwitting people, those with only their labour to sell, dangerously employed, with little or no compensation and looking at an early death; the communities living and playing in the vicinities of these asbestos mines; and the production of product from this poisonous asbestos material, scientifically proven to kill; the owners must be shut down and wherever possible, prosecuted.

We must challenge the countries and industries that support asbestos mining, production and use and call for an international ban, because that is what is right. We cannot allow a repeat of the reckless and irresponsible behaviour of companies like James Hardie here in Australia to be repeated around the world despite countless warnings. The World Trade Organisation called the so-called controlled use of asbestos a fallacy. The World Health Organisation stated that the only efficient way to eliminate asbestos disease is ‘to stop using all types of asbestos’. I stand here this morning with my parliamentary colleagues and thank them for their support as I continue my call in this place for Australia to lead international efforts to ban the sale, mining and use of all forms of asbestos, such as chrysotile, throughout the world. (Time expired)

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