Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion that the honourable member for Reid has brought before the House and I thank him for so doing. It is one of those issues that must unite us all. A lot of countries have banned asbestos, both mining and imports and exports, but there is still some way to go. The motion that the honourable member for Reid has put before the House talks about international efforts to list chrysotile asbestos under the Rotterdam Treaty. James Hardie had an asbestos mine in Baryulgil, which is in my seat of Page. I will talk a little bit about that and then I will talk about a town in Russia called Asbest that lives off the proceeds of asbestos mining.

In the period from 1945 to the 1970s Australia was a big consumer of asbestos products. The mine in Baryulgil was operated by an almost entirely Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce. James Hardie operated there without any regard at all for the workers. Many inquiries have been conducted, including the one in 1983-84 which concluded that James Hardie should have been aware of the dangers of asbestos long before Baryulgil opened and was under an obligation to protect the workforce. It also noted its own deliberations had been hindered by James Hardie’s refusal to provide medical records or to allow people to give evidence. I have friends who lived and worked at that mine in Baryulgil. One friend, who will not mind me mentioning her, Mrs Irene Harrington, used to wash her husband’s clothes sometimes 10 times a day, when he came out of the mine. The miners used to wear handkerchiefs and things around their faces. That was not very good protection from asbestos. It is one of those tragedies that we are still dealing with. The honourable member for Reid’s motion says:

… Bernie Banton Foundation estimates that by 2020, some 40,000 Australians will have contracted asbestos related cancer …

I suggest that may be a conservative estimate. Other diseases and illnesses that are caused include asbestosis, asthma, chronic respiratory disease and bronchitis.

I pay tribute to the journalist Matt Peacock for his related report which was first broadcast on the ABC program Broadband on 30 September 1977. Matt Peacock is still following this story today. He won a journalism award—as he should have done—for that particular report.

Also, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission  said:

The history of the failure of responsible authorities to address this significant health risk to the Baryulgil community constitutes a … disregard for the human rights of the residents, including their right to equal protection of the law and equality and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including public health.

In the short time I have left I will turn my attention to the town of Asbest, a town that is 1,750 kilometres from Moscow, which boasts a quarry and processing plant that produces one-quarter of the world’s chrysotile asbestos, which is commonly known as mineral flax. The quarry and processing plant employ 8,500 people. Asbest is a town of 71,000 residents, so you can see that it survives on what I call a ‘death industry’. How tragic that is for the poor people who have to live and work in that area. Asbest’s involvement in asbestos mining goes back to the 18th century. Marie Jego, from the Guardian Weekly, visited Asbest. She talked to a whole lot of workers and residents Sadly, some of them said the campaign against asbestos was a plot by Western countries to stop Russia from getting access to asbestos. But some local women said differently. (Time expired)

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