Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

Unlike exposure to asbestos, which may take many years to present, acute silicosis can occur within three years of exposure. Like asbestosis, there is no cure for silicosis other than a lung transplant. And, despite significant government reports in the 1990s of the growing number of Australians dying of asbestosis, it wasn't until the end of 2003 that a complete ban on all forms of asbestos was brought in. It was another 10 years until Australia got a national agency. With hundreds of thousands of Australians being exposed to silica dust every year, we need to act now. I commend this bill to the Senate.