Anne McEwen (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In June 2007 I rose in this place to record the extent to which many South Australian workers and, in particular, former employees of James Hardie had become victims of the debilitating and often fatal diseases associated with that company and the asbestos industry generally. Those victims often included the workers’ families and, over time, others unwittingly exposed to the now recognised dangers of the products. At that time I made particular mention of some people whose long dedication to exposing the dangers of asbestos, as a raw material and in the many product forms it took, was responsible for the education of workers and the public, leading to the legislative prohibition of the product. Two of those noted at the time were Bernie Banton and Jack Watkins.

Bernie Banton died at age 61, in late November 2007, of mesothelioma contracted from working in the asbestos industry. Mr Banton was front and centre in the bitter fight for justice for victims of asbestos diseases, and his passing was marked by tributes from workers and their unions and the parliamentary leaders of all sides of politics. He and his six-year campaign will be long remembered through the compensation fund established as a consequence of his energies.

Bernie had survived Jack Watkins by less than a month. Jack passed away in his sleep on Tuesday, 16 October 2007, as a result of chronic emphysema. He was aged 72. Jack was born in pre-war Birmingham, and his early childhood was marked by the bombings and desolation of that city and the subsequent post-war shortages and poverty of his working-class family. Leaving school at age 13, Jack worked at those labouring jobs reserved for those who, through no fault of their own, were poorly educated. He quickly came to understand the dirty and often dangerous nature of those jobs. He also joined a union, a continuous characteristic and passion throughout his whole life. Jack married young, and his wife, Cathy, became his greatest supporter and a source of inspiration and fierce pride for him. He and Cathy worked hard to provide an upbringing and home life for their two children that was better than their own had been. Despite a measure of success from their labours, in 1966 Jack and Cathy decided to migrate to Australia.

Following their arrival, finding and holding jobs was sometimes difficult for Jack because, despite the need to provide for his family, he could not just ‘roll over’ when confronted with job issues; he was compelled to speak up. This included advocating for his own and other families over issues arising from their initial hostel accommodation in Adelaide. His preparedness and ability to tackle such issues led to a period as an organiser with the plumbers and gasfitters union. A following stint in the building and construction industry led inevitably to a similar role with the Builders Labourers Federation, which, along with other building unions, was increasingly involved in exposing the incidence of asbestos in the building and construction industry.

The painful death of a union member from asbestos exposure, and the subsequent devastating effect on the worker’s family, drove Jack to a focused and lifelong fight for the control and eradication of those materials and for justice for the victims of their effects. As an organiser with the Builders Labourers Federation, Jack was equally at home in arguing his case ‘from the stump’ at meetings of members, where he made health and safety ‘union business’, as he was with employers and parliamentarians. His input into formal asbestos awareness campaigns was extensive. Jack’s approach to campaign activity was at times very unorthodox but, more often than not, very effective. In circumstances where he believed formal approaches were either too slow or meeting such resistance as to place workers, and indeed the public, at risk, Jack was never one to shy away from direct action. There were many occasions during the early 1970s when workers and the public would arrive at buildings in the central business district of Adelaide to be confronted with a bright yellow sticker emblazoned with a black death’s head and the legend ‘Danger’ affixed to the front doors. Jack correctly assumed that the ensuing inquiry would provoke awareness of, and action around, asbestos products in those buildings.

A continuing part of Jack’s energies was focused on schools where it was found that young people were suffering likely exposure to the material. Perhaps in part as a consequence of him being denied a proper education, Jack had a passion for the continuing education of the young. Through the actions of Jack Watkins and others, South Australia as a state now enjoys a reputation as a national leader in asbestos safety management and legislative control. Such has not always been the case. During a period of time when the South Australian parliament was debating early legislation for the control of asbestos, Jack was confronted with an instance of lunacy—presumably industry led—suggesting that asbestos was so safe you could eat it. Appalled that such dangerous, indeed life-threatening, nonsense was being repeated in the parliament, Jack again took direct action. During the debate, from the Strangers Gallery, he sprinkled a white substance to the chamber floor below. The reaction from those parliamentarians below was not as if they were receiving manna from heaven; rather, it was described as pandemonium. In the midst of this, Jack was arrested, handcuffed and brought before the Speaker. Charged with contempt of parliament, Jack was banned from its precincts for three years and he was forbidden to even mount the steps of parliament house. For that period his presence at parliament house demonstrations was always publicly acknowledged as being from ‘the terrace below’.

Jack later pointed out that his action was not driven by contempt but by frustration that the rate and pace of legislative change was not such that it prevented injury, illness and death of workers. He understood very well the powerful tools provided by legislation and was a tireless worker for, and later major architect of, South Australia’s asbestos laws. The resultant publicity was, however, a platform from which Jack would capably argue the case to ban the production and use of asbestos and to control and restrict, where necessary, the use of other dangerous and injurious materials. In 1979 the South Australian government established the Asbestos Advisory Board, in the affairs of which Jack participated as a member from inception until his death. During the late eighties the then South Australian Trades and Labour Council appointed Jack as the council’s Asbestos and Toxic Waste Liaison Officer to coordinate trade union and associated campaigns and to establish and maintain one of the very first asbestos registers in Australia. It is a mark of Jack’s commitment that, after the grant funds were exhausted, he continued the project without any salary.

Jack fought both state and federal governments for the remediation of the Islington Railway Workshops site, in Adelaide, and its conversion to a public park. The site was finally cleared of asbestos and toxic wastes, landscaped and named the Jack Watkins Memorial Park. Jack insisted that it stand as a tribute to workers who have died from an asbestos related disease. In 2001 Jack was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to workplace health, particularly in the area of asbestos investigation and education. From its formation in 2005, he became President of the Asbestos Diseases Society of South Australia and was a member of the Asbestos Victims Association and the Asbestos Coalition.

Often described as an industrial ‘hard man’—and most certainly a formidable opponent—Jack was also a man who was awed by the natural world and had an intense love of the written word, poetry and verse. He was a proud man, dedicated to his family, and the death of his wife, Cathy, from cancer was a profound loss to him. Jack was posthumously awarded the inaugural lifetime achievement award for occupational health and safety by SafeWork SA. The citation notes his decade-long contribution at the grassroots level in advocating for and supporting those affected by asbestos. Jack’s participation in the development of South Australia’s asbestos laws and regulations will long stand as testimony to his dedication and activism and is his legacy to workers and their families.

His commitment and achievement remains an inspiration to those continuing in the struggle to prevent asbestos disease and to secure justice for those already afflicted. Jack’s passing should also stand as a reminder to those of us who can effect positive change that the work to avoid or ease the suffering of those with industrial diseases is far from over. A thumbnail of Jack’s life and activism appears in the book Movers and Shakers, which was launched just two days after his death. That book records stories of activists who have made a difference in South Australia. Jack Watkins was certainly a mover and shaker.