Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that November is Asbestos Awareness Month;

(2) acknowledges that tens of thousands of Australian's have ongoing asbestos related illnesses as a result of being exposed to asbestos in the course of their employment or through exposure at their home;

(3) recognises the significant impact on the families and friends of Australians who have asbestos related illnesses;

(4) congratulates asbestos related illness sufferers, their families and the labour movement for their campaign to win justice and compensation for those exposed to asbestos; and

(5) commits to working towards eliminating asbestos both in Australia and around the world.

November is Asbestos Awareness Month. It is fitting that the House recognises the impact of asbestos related illnesses in our communities, congratulates those who have campaigned for justice for those who suffer from these illnesses and commits to eliminating asbestos both in Australia and around the world.

Asbestos related illnesses are among the most painful diseases. Exposure to asbestos can lead to mesothelioma, cancer of the larynx, ovaries and lungs, and asbestosis. The World Health Organization estimates that 125 million people around the world are still exposed to asbestos in the course of their employment and that 90,000 people die annually from asbestos related diseases. These are truly shocking statistics, and we can be thankful that asbestos was banned in Australia in 2003.

Asbestos Awareness Month highlights to Australians the danger of working with asbestos during home renovations and maintenance. Australia has one of the highest incidences of asbestos related cancers in the world. It is a startling fact that nearly every home that was built or renovated before the mid-1980s is likely to contain asbestos. As millions of Australians would live in such a house, it is particularly important that we are aware of these dangers of exposure to asbestos. Before the ban in 2003, asbestos miners, manufacturers, trades men and women, and their families were impacted by exposure. These are commonly known as the first and second waves of victims. The third wave of people who will be affected are those who undertake do-it-yourself home renovations or maintenance in old houses. It is this third wave of DIY-ers and renovators who are at risk of dangerous exposure and on whom the awareness month focuses.

Anyone who watches commercial television will be aware that, in recent years, Australians have increasingly become obsessed with home renovations. On any given night, Australians can watch The Block, Better Homes and Gardens, House Rules or Grand Designsthe list goes on. Given the popularity of these shows, it is fundamentally important that the community is aware of the risks associated with exposure to asbestos and the horrific consequences of such exposure. The clear message of Asbestos Awareness Month is this: there is absolutely no safe level of exposure to asbestos fibres. I urge everyone who is considering or undertaking home renovations to visit asbestosawareness.com.au and undertake the 20-point asbestos safety check.

All of us in the House will be aware of the horrendous exposure workers at James Hardie suffered and the unconscionable actions of that company in seeking to walk away from its liability. It is only because of the bravery of campaigners such as Bernie Banton and the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, who together with the trade union movement delivered justice for these victims, that we are in the situation we are in today. I do not want to be overtly political in speaking to this motion, but the James Hardie saga is a significant episode in Australia's industrial history and is particularly relevant in raising asbestos awareness. Workers were exposed to asbestos and their employer knew this exposure was dangerous, yet it continued to allow them to work with asbestos. Then, when workers sought justice and compensation, the company did everything possible to avoid its responsibilities. This is a shameful example of a corporation exploiting workers in the worst possible way. It is our duty as parliamentarians to do all that we can to be vigilant and to prevent such shameful industrial abuse from happening in the future. Bernie Banton, who was one of the leaders of the campaign for justice, passed away eight years ago this Friday. I am proud that this House is recognising this brave campaign for justice with the help of the labour movement. Australia is a better country because of the efforts of these brave fighters for fairness. I should put on the record that I am particularly concerned about recent reports that James Hardie, despite very strong profits, has cut back its compensation program by a further 44 per cent.

Australians need to be aware of the dangers of exposure to asbestos. It is fitting that the national parliament is recognising Asbestos Awareness Month, is paying tribute to those who have fought for justice and is committing to working towards eliminating asbestos, both in Australia and around the world. I, again, pay tribute to the work of the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, Bernie Banton and the trade union movement. I particularly acknowledge that my predecessor as the member for Charlton, Greg Combet, lists his negotiations with James Hardie as his greatest achievement in political life. In advance, I thank my colleagues from all sides of the House for making a contribution to this debate on Asbestos Awareness Month. I am proud to commend the motion to the House.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion. There is not one word that the member for Charlton spoke that I have a problem with. In fact, I support him in every remark that he made. Asbestosis is a deplorable disease and there are not many places I can go in Australia where I cannot find someone affected by this disease. I recognise, as the member who just spoke did, some heroes in my area—particularly Vicki Hamilton from GARDS, Gippsland Asbestos Related Disease Support. The work that they do very important people because we come from the industrial area of the Latrobe Valley. We have all the asbestos laws, but none of us are immune to home renovations. Just recently, I was watching a contractor work. He rigged up this whole thing just to put a hot-water service in—just to drill four holes—because, as he said to me, 'My dad died of this disease.' My drummer's mum, Laura, died of this disease a while ago. I have spoken about that before. She never had any contact with asbestos, but she washed her husband's overalls. There are people who can live with asbestos for the whole of their life and never have a problem with it, and there are some who get sick at the merest touch of it. I am personally guilty of doing renovations involving asbestos. No-one ever told us all those years ago that there was a problem with taking the asbestos, throwing it in a trailer, taking it to the tip, dumping it and then going back for the next lot.

I holiday with my family at Phillip Island, where so many of the homes are just built out of asbestos. Even the newer homes are built out of asbestos. For the old ones built during the war, they had to get any material they could from anywhere to build their homes, and they did. There is nowhere you can walk on Phillip Island where you cannot pick up a piece of asbestos. My own son said to me, 'Dad, what's asbestos?' I just reached down to the ground and picked a piece up and said, 'That's asbestos.' The member for Charlton would say, 'You shouldn't have picked that up, Russell. You should've had gloves on when you picked it up.'

The message that is coming through is that we want local governments, state governments and federal governments to be aware of this issue, because we are not talking about a few people who may be affected and infected by this horrific and completely debilitating disease. You talk to the people who have the disease and are dealing with it—and our best efforts cannot save their lives if they are infected by this shocking, horrible disease.

The member for Charlton mentioned our past and, particularly, James Hardie. I understand what he is saying, but our past is our past. We need to address that appropriately and financially on behalf of those who need to receive benefits and lump-sum payouts, because, quite often, their lives are very short and they actually need a lump-sum payout, not an instalment, for themselves and for their family to deal with the issue—and they are dealing with the issue of death. We are dealing with the issue of death. We are not saying that this is a cold that you get and get over; this is something that you get and it actually kills you. The message that we are giving to everybody is: do not do your own renovations. Do not think you can break the rules, because it may not be you who dies. It could be your daughter working around you while you are doing the renovations. It could be your son who dies because of the renovations that you may be doing around your home because you think it is going to be cheaper: 'I don't have to get the guy in. I don't have to wrap it in the plastic three times. I don't have to carry it in and then take it to the tip and get it weighed and pay the extra money.' It is your own children under threat, it is your community under threat and it is those around you who are under threat when you do these sorts of renovations.

We are sending a very strong message here: this is a dangerous product; it will kill you. I applaud the Vicki Hamiltons of this world, the union movement that supports me in all these things and the contractors and the workers who make a difference to the people in the streets. We are a nation that is addressing this issue. We need to do something internationally with regard to India, Russia and the other places who are still producing this stuff and still using it as a material. It is a disgrace and we have got a long way to go.

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the motion and I thank the member for Charlton for bringing Asbestos Awareness Month to our attention. Speaking on the topic today is a timely reminder of Asbestos Awareness Day happening this Friday, so keep your eyes open for the blue lamington drive and donate generously. Funds raised go towards needed research into the treatment of mesothelioma and other asbestos related diseases. The reason asbestos awareness campaigns like Get to Know Asbestos this November are needed is because even though Australia banned the use of asbestos in 2003 there have been 600 cases of malignant mesothelioma and about 1,350 cases of lung cancer caused by asbestos exposure diagnosed each year.

As we know asbestos was widely used in building materials and the automotive trade before 1987, so it is not only tradesmen who are at risk of exposure but also families who may be renovating or maintaining their own homes. It is estimated that one in three Australian homes contain asbestos in one form or another. I would like to tell you about the magnificent Lou Williams. Lou lives in my electorate of McEwen and I have met with her over the last few months to discuss issues regarding treatment options for people with mesothelioma. This issue is close to Lou's heart because she lost her father to pleural mesothelioma in 1985 and she has faced her own battle with pleural mesothelioma for the last 13 years. But I can tell you, she is one tough fighter.

Lou was exposed to asbestos as a child in the seventies—at a time when we did not know better, or were only learning about the impacts from those early cases at James Hardie Industries. Although we tend to think of most mesothelioma sufferers as being male, or those who worked directly with the material, we are starting to see a rise in the number of women being diagnosed with the disease as a result of exposure similar to Lou's or from home renovations.

When Lou came to see me she was working on behalf of all the mesothelioma sufferers in Australia. She is fighting to have a new medication used to treat mesothelioma put on the PBS. Lou's treatment plan uses a new medication called Keytruda, which is administered every three weeks. Basically, the medication encourages the body's immune system to kick in and fight the mesothelioma tumours in a more natural way compared to other oncological treatment options such as chemotherapy. The medication is approved in Australia for melanoma, but it is not yet approved for mesothelioma. The cost of the medication is $9,000 per dose, and traditionally you will need between four and six doses before you can find out if it is going to be effective. That is about $36,000 each person has got to find. It is well out of the price range of most people. But is it effective? Well, if you have seen Lou, she is the poster child. Lou has seen some great improvement in her condition with the medication attributed to shrinking her tumours and giving her a new lease on life—energy, strength and the ability to make the most out of each day. With these types of encouraging treatment results, shouldn't this option be available to all Australians? I think so. That is why we have been working with Lou to encourage the pharmaceutical company that makes Keytruda to apply to the TGA and the PBAC to have the medication listed.

I met with the company in August and spoke about the demonstrated need in the Australian community and the benefits that listing their product on the PBS would have for the thousands of Australian's diagnosed with mesothelioma. Lou is speaking on Australian trials and treatments at the International Conference on Asbestos Awareness and Management in Melbourne this week. I am sure that her personal experience will be discussed at great length and raise greater awareness of the benefits of putting Keytruda put on the PBS. There is no time to waste.

This is particularly the case for victims of James Hardie Industries who have once again been neglected by an unjustifiable decision by the company to slash its contributions to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund. They are slashing compensation while at the same time their profits soar by some 22 per cent. Not only are they slashing compensation funding but they are also looking to change the way payments are made—payments by instalments instead of a lump sum payment within three years. Does this mean that victims will now have to wait for their first instalment at the three-year point? As we know, this government is well versed in the art of making sufferers wait in a long and drawn out process to receive their compensation. Asbestos related disease victims do not die by instalments and they should not have their compensation in instalments either.

I would like to commend asbestos disease sufferers like Lou and many others, and their families, who have worked tirelessly alongside government representatives, unions and labour groups to increase awareness of the dangers of exposure to asbestos and the need for continual and increased funding for treatment and further research. As I said, keep your eye out for the blue lamington drive happening in your area. Give generously to Asbestos Awareness Day. It is a very worthy cause. I particularly mention Lou because I do not think I have met a person with such great inner strength and courage as Lou. We will keep fighting to help her and hopefully other victims to get the support they need and the medication they need that will help them live full lives.

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Charlton cited a number of individuals who have made heroic efforts in this field. I would like to add, more particularly with the Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia, the former maritime official, Barry Robson, who has made it his life task to struggle for the victims. I also mention Taylor and Scott who, through association with the CFMEU, have also played a strong role. In this parliament, Senator Lisa Singh and the member for McMillan have been out there with regard to awareness, having forums and seminars during the year and, more particularly, raising the question of the continued use of asbestos by companies in the developing world when they have no excuse for saying they do not know about it.

Having grown up in Granville and Guildford, I am very cognisant of this reality. The former plant at Camellia employed up to 1,500 people, both at James Hardie and the former CSR related company, Wunderlich, with a predominantly Maltese and Lebanese Maronite workforce. In the course of my life, I had experience with my own father. Amongst multiple reasons for his death was asbestos related illness from having worked in breaking up building materials at the age of 15 or 16. I watched a friend, George Zeiter, die. With his wife, Kathie, we spent many social times. I saw him struggle for breath and, to my mind, at that stage he was paid a measly figure, and that is typical of the reality in this field. I was also able to make sure that my friend and now judge Anna Katzmann was able to rush to the home of metalworkers official John Wallace to make sure papers were filled, because of the very severe time limitations for people to wage their claims. From recollection, John made it by about two days before he died.

Whilst someone said earlier that it is a historic event, it is still contemporary. A previous speaker cited the reality that James Hardie is severely cutting their payments. The agreement was, of course, that it would operate on cash flows. I have to say that, in the case of this company, given its rather shabby history, one would have to have grave suspicions about the manipulation of company finances to avoid payments. One would have to have grave doubts that scheme, which was admittedly agreed to.

Another article recently highlighted James Hardie's nefarious conduct in this field. In The Saturday Paper on 7 November was an article by Susan Chenery. She spoke about the treatment of the Baryulgil people, an Indigenous community in Northern New South Wales where there was a mine. On the broader issue of asbestos in this country, Matt Peacock, the former ABC journalist and producer, played a very important role. It was only in 1977 that the people in Baryulgil knew what they were enduring. In the article by Susan Chenery, amongst points made, she said:

Walker was given a pension of “20-something” dollars a week when her husband died, after a lump sum of $40,000. “In 17 years, the pension is up to $80,” ... “That is not much money for losing the person who was the breadwinner for the family.”

Ray Jones says most of the Baryulgil people who died of asbestos-related illness “died without getting a cent or got a pathetic amount”. When Walker’s brother died, his wife was given $4000 by James Hardie.

The promised medical centre was only established in 1990, despite some discussions back in 1984. It further said:

"Has anybody ever mentioned that it can give you cancer?" I don’t think anybody had ever been made aware of the dangers of it. They were virtually swimming in the dust and kids crawling around in it.

That is the kind of reality on the ground for Baryulgil. That is the kind of conduct of James Hardie. They knew for decades of the dangers they were facing, and what was seen at Baryulgil was also practised in metropolitan Sydney at this plant. I have to say that, in a discussion with Matt Peacock some years ago, he made the point that there are still former executives of this company who know where there are significant dumps of asbestos in the inner west region of Sydney. These constitute a continuing problem, and it is quite alarming that these people have not come forward, years after their employment with the company, to expose where these dumps are. I have to say, they were multiple.

A situation where 11,500 people have been newly diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma in Australia between 1982 and 2009 is certainly a matter that should entertain the interest of this parliament. I commend the mover, and I commend members in this parliament who have had a very strong involvement around the issue.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Charlton for bringing this very important motion to the attention of the House. I grew up in Seven Hills in the 1970s, and Seven Hills forms part of what is commonly known in Sydney as the asbestos belt, where more than 30 per cent of fibro-clad houses existed in those council areas in the early 1980s. Today, I represent Blacktown City Council and part of Holroyd City Council, which remain in that great asbestos belt of Western Sydney. It is sometimes called the fibro belt. This is where the use of asbestos-containing products is especially concentrated. It was largely built around the 1950s and 1960s, and there are streets where every house was built using fibro sheets reinforced with asbestos.

Aside from that, one of the reasons why I consider this to be such an important issue is that asbestos eradication, identification and treatment is front of mind for many people in Western Sydney, including our local councils, home renovators and homeowners. You only have to go around to some of these areas, as I do on a regular basis, to see the large fences with the huge signs saying, 'Asbestos eradication in process; keep out,' to know that this is an issue that is going to be ongoing and which people in later years are going to find themselves suffering from.

I think it is incredibly important to also recognise the role that is played by local government and also by the community. In particular, we see cases of asbestos dumping. There are people who still think that it is okay and that there are no health ramifications caused by this. Just to bring to light some issues, recently asbestos scares happened after building waste fell from trucks. But I also want to point out something close to home. In May last year, we had a headline: 'Asbestos scare shuts down Blacktown Hospital upgrade works indefinitely'.We actually had tonnes of fill delivered to Blacktown Hospital's reconstruction laden with asbestos. The fact that this can go on today not only is an absolute blight on the systems of checks and balances but also highlights that this is going to be, as I said, an ongoing issue which is not going to go away overnight.

On that point, I want to congratulate our local councils for the initiatives that they have taken in this area, and I particularly want to congratulate Holroyd City Council. They have been back-to-back winners of various awards in excellence in environmental leadership and sustainability for their work recognising their innovation in asbestos management. They also run a website, for those viewers or people listening in: asbestosanswers.com.au. They have created a website that aims to answer questions that council staff are commonly asked in relation to asbestos in a simple, non-jargonistic way, and I congratulate them for taking that initiative.

One of the other big issues that have come to light in recent times as well is that we still have issues of asbestos being imported in building equipment. I note that an article on the ABC on 23 October this year said:

The Asbestos Industry Association said the potentially deadly material was discovered in cement compound board from China two months ago.

What is even more concerning is the samples were tested in Asia and a certificate was issued saying they were asbestos-free when in fact they contained white asbestos.

I also point out the fines for importing these types of products. The penalty is $170,000, when in 2012 Safe Work Australia estimated the average human cost of an asbestos related fatality was over $1 million and for asbestos related incapacity it was over $2 million. It is incredibly important to recognise that, unless something is done urgently, unless we have action on this, we are going see yet another wave of people suffering these asbestos related deceases—not just the people who dug it up, not just the people who lived in the houses, not just the people who have been knocking down the houses or being exposed to asbestos dumping. People today are using this in houses.

I just want to echo the sentiments that James Hardie must immediately step up to ensure that the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund is property funded. That is an absolutely essential element and I think we would all agree with that.

Debate adjourned.