Dennis Jensen (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

At last year's federal coalition campaign launch the then opposition leader promised that if elected he would govern for all Australians. A government must be ready, willing and able to commit itself and work towards improving the lot of all Australians, regardless of political affiliation or any other characteristic. Good governance is above politics. It is above the partisan divide. As such, this government has endeavoured to be an exemplar in bipartisanship and good governance. The ACT Government Loan Bill 2014 serves as a way to provide funding to the ACT government in order to carry out urgent work to preserve lives and protect health. This loan will help the ACT government to fund the purchase of affected homes, removing residents from the danger of Mr Fluffy. These properties will then be destroyed and the land sold off once the all-clear is given.

More than 1,000 houses are known to contain Mr Fluffy loose-asbestos insulation in the ACT. In the 1960s and 1970s Mr Fluffy pumped loose-fill asbestos into Canberran walls and ceilings to provide much-needed protection from chilly Canberra winter nights. While insulation is generally a much loved and cherished part of any home, Mr Fluffy was anything but. As we now know, and have known for some time, Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos, like all asbestos, is highly dangerous to one's health. Asbestos is dangerous to anyone and everyone; it takes no prisoners and casts no judgement. It is a silent killer. In the past, asbestos was commonly used in roofing and fire-proofing, or as insulation, as we see in this case. Sadly, it has remained undetected in many buildings across the nation.

And that is the problem here in the ACT, a problem that the loan authorized by this bill will go towards solving. Asbestos fibres permeate the air and, if inhaled, linger in the lung tissue of unsuspecting victims. As we know from the successful anti-smoking public awareness campaign, every cigarette does you damage. And just like cigarettes, every asbestos fibre does you damage. It cuts and tears at the lung, digging deep into the lung tissue. Over time, this builds up and up, and greater harm is caused. Sadly, continued exposure can lead to painful and debilitating diseases, such as mesothelioma and asbestosis. It can take years—decades even—for the harm of asbestos to be seen. The delayed onset of asbestos related diseases makes it even more terrifying than it already is.

Ever since we have known fully of the dangers of asbestos, governments—federal through to state, territory and local—have worked to minimise the risk and protect the people, which brings me to the crux of this debate. The government's role is to protect—protect property, protect lives and protect society. When thinking of the role of government I am often reminded of what President Reagan once said:

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

And often protecting the people involves one government working with another, just as we see in this bill. If the ACT government was to fund this on their own, it would total up to one-fifth of their budget. We cannot expect the ACT government to fund this up-front—nor would we want to—for many ACT residents would themselves suffer if the ACT government suddenly had one-fifth less money to deal with. It would mean a fifth less programs, a fifth less for community safety. In order to help the ACT government protect both those in homes ruined by Mr Fluffy and the wider community as a whole, we can and must provide this loan.

I look forward to the day when no Australian has to grow up with the fear of asbestos—the great unknown; the shadow behind every wall, in every tile and in every roof. Over the past decade, it has been my wont to stand up in this place to support brevity in our legislation. At only four pages long, though, I wonder if the present bill being debated is in fact too short and incomplete. The fear I have is of what might come from a lack of clear vision. There is no clear understanding or detailing of how the execution of the plan will look. In short, I want to see justice done for all the families suffering duress due to the Mr Fluffy disaster.

This disease, mesothelioma, is an insidious thief. It attaches to a healthy body and waits and waits. In fact, a person exposed to asbestos will only begin to exhibit the signs and symptoms of the disease many years after the incident. The heart-wrenching stories told by those diagnosed with this disease go some way to explaining the urgent need for this bill—as does an understanding of what it must be like to be a parent having have to constantly live with the fear that you might be consigning your child to a death sentence, a slow and painful death. Think of the children that have moved away. The fears of their fathers and mothers remain. It would be churlish to comment on the current investigations. However, I will make this point: I ardently hope that the plan to fix the situation today is executed in a fully professional and comprehensive manner. This is not what has happened previously. Remediation and amelioration programs in the past have been nothing short of debacles.

Fewer words leave less for specification. Without specification there is always the danger of the unintended consequences of project black holes and budget blow-outs. I welcome and support this bill and the succour it will give to many families here in the ACT. Indeed, by studying the issues around this bill, I have gained a greater understanding of mesothelioma. This understanding will not only help shape my policy responses to this crisis; it will act as a well from which to draw when we come to deal with our own issues in WA. There are many homes in my electorate of Tangney that have asbestos. It is impossible to put an accurate figure on the number of homes affected. Many live in blissful ignorance—or fear that their suspicions may be proved correct. Needless to say, one home endangering just one person's future life is one too many. It is terrifying to think that the thing we define as the embodiment of safety—our home, our castle—could give us a life-ending cancer. Time will tell who is at fault and if there were issues of responsibility or negligence on the part of the federal government.

What is beyond doubt, however, is the need to act. The hope must be that this is a bipartisan approach that not only appeals to 'the better angels of our nature'—to quote President Lincoln—but is a process of moving forward together. There is nothing so wrong with our community that cannot be fixed by what is right with our society. My thoughts and prayers are with those fighting a most terrifying battle. My hope is that, whether in Canberra or in Perth, they know that we in this place put the health and wellbeing of the people above all else. I wish them to know that in this their most challenging and dark hour, the light is not far away. It is always darkest before the dawn. I believe the spirit of Australia is a defiant, rugged resourcefulness and I hope that from some of these sufferings a terrible beauty can be born—a beauty of not having to repeat this sorry story again and of not having other Australians go through something similar in the future. That is my hope. That is my wish. This first step, this concrete action, will get concrete moving. People's lives will be able to be built again. They can move forward without fear; that is what this bill is all about. This bill will return a little hope, reward and opportunity to those who need it most.

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