Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation) Share this | Hansard source

I should say also at the outset of this issue that the identification and eradication of asbestos in Australia is a priority for this government. I am pleased that the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis passed the legislation less than an hour ago.

In terms of Telstra we have met with the CEO, David Thodey, and other people from his company, stakeholders including unions, including contractors, including the Chief Medical Officer and we went through the issues which have been widely reported in recent days. Telstra made it very clear at this meeting that they accepted that they have to do more. Telstra accepted, in matters going from inspection to training to education, that there had been deficiencies and that they needed to do more.

I am pleased to inform the House that Telstra, along with all the stakeholders, including victim support groups—I do not think I had mentioned they were there—agreed about the outcomes of this meeting we have just had. What was good was that we saw organisations taking the high road in terms of not seeking to blame but, rather, to accept responsibility. We saw that Telstra accepted responsibility for end-to-end training throughout the system, making sure that contractors and everyone working with pits and ducts were trained adequately in the safe handling of asbestos. Telstra also accepted the need to do much better in terms of respecting the anxieties of the community, particularly those in Penrith and Ballarat—the member for Ballarat was also with us at the meeting—but not just them. I congratulate the CEO of Telstra on the way he conducted himself in the meeting. Indeed, in the discussions that we had there was a recognition that Telstra and stakeholders—in particular, contractors—needed to do better than they have been doing, because asbestos is a real scourge in the Australian community.

It is estimated that one in three houses built between the end of World War II and the late 1980s would have asbestos within them. Asbestos was widely used in Australia and we have the highest per capita incidence of asbestos related diseases. It is a problem which the labour movement has been tackling for generations. It is a problem that the labour movement wishes we could uninvent. (Time expired)

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