John Murphy (Lowe, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to speak about the great Bernie Banton. Bernie Banton was one of the most famous anti-asbestos campaigners in Australia. He was the face, heart and soul of the hard-fought struggle to bring corporate giant James Hardie to account. He was the face, the heart and the soul of the biggest battle for compensation in Australia’s workplace history. We live in an age where suggestions of heroism are treated with cynicism, an age where the overworked expression ‘Australian hero’ can often be trite. Not so on this occasion. Bernie Banton was a hero—a hero for ordinary Australian workers and a hero for all Australian families. He, like very few before him, was able to prod the Australian conscience and to touch our souls. At a time when we were drifting towards a more insular life, looking after those immediate to us, Bernie reminded us of the importance of togetherness—the Anzac spirit. He reminded us of the importance of the great Australian traditions of the fair go for all, of looking out for each other, of sticking up for your mates and of punching well above your weight. In so doing, Bernie Banton was an ordinary Australian hero doing extraordinary things.

We know that one of Bernie’s greatest achievements was negotiating the creation of a $4 billion compensation fund which offers financial security to thousands of workers who have contracted asbestos diseases whilst working with products made by James Hardie. The fund will also provide financial security for the families of those workers. The sum is the largest voluntary payment in Australian corporate history. My friend and colleague the member for Charlton, who worked very closely to make this deal a reality, has made it very clear that it would not have been possible without Bernie’s influence. Bernie did not just prick the Australian conscience; he lanced the conscience of one of Australia’s biggest and oldest companies. Given James Hardie’s past, making it meet its responsibilities for having put thousands of lives at risk was an insurmountable task for many but not for Bernie Banton.

Gideon Haigh, the author of Asbestos House: the Secret History of James Hardie Industries, notes that a memo from Hardie’s Camellia plant manager warned of the dangers of asbestos. The memo from October 1972 stated:

Even assuming that all vented systems were perfect, the fact remains that dust clings to every cut surface, is generated every time a block is moved ...

                   …                   …                   …

I see no real solution to these problems except by use of an asbestos substitute.

One former safety officer at James Hardie, who later went on to become an executive, has described the negligence at the Camellia plant, where workers were exposed to plumes of asbestos dust so thick that they could barely see what was in front of them. In 1999 the New South Wales Supreme Court ruled that by 1938 Hardie:

... had actual knowledge of the dangers to health posed by visible clouds of asbestos dust.

Yet, despite the countless warnings, James Hardie recklessly and irresponsibly continued to use asbestos, inflicting disease and ultimately death on the hundreds of workers who gave the company their utmost loyalty—including Bernie. Bernie’s success at halting James Hardie in its tracks when it tried to run away from its obligations is one of Australia’s greatest David and Goliath stories. Bernie’s heroic battle was symbolic of what is right, what is decent and what is proper in all Australian workplaces. He single-handedly delivered the message that employees could not be written off as mere commodities. Human beings deserve to be treated with care and respect at all times. Bernie understood that.

Through this there seems to be an obvious message. It was one that only Bernie could deliver to the executives at James Hardie. It was a message upon which justice for hundreds of workers and thousands of family members hinged. Despite being hampered by asbestosis and ultimately mesothelioma, Bernie never wallowed in self-pity. He was unrelenting in his pursuit of justice, not for himself but for those who would not otherwise have had any. Gideon Haigh traces Bernie’s activism to the experience of one of his mates. Bernie was watching a friend undergo antagonising, patronising questioning and obfuscation from James Hardie’s lawyers. Bernie recalled:

They made him look like such a dope.

The judge could see he was telling the truth, but it was just these smartarse lawyers, especially the bloke from Hardies.

I would have thumped him in the gob.

Bernie’s asbestos campaign began and ended with concern for others, despite his own deteriorating health. Bernie’s oncologist from Concord hospital, Stephen Clarke, recalls urging his patient to put his own health needs first—advice that largely went unheeded. Bernie should have been worrying about his own health but he was more concerned about his mates, about the injustice and about the workers around Australia. He was concerned about those whose names he did not know and whose families would experience the same challenges as his wife, Karen. Bernie’s altruism, dignity and determination earned him admiration from many quarters, but he would have been beaming with pride at the accolades given to him by the ordinary Australians for whom he fought so hard. The wife of one victim who met Bernie at a Canberra fundraiser said:

He was inspirational. He was already sick with asbestosis and I had lost my husband but I was really appreciative of what he was doing for others.

Another widow said:

He inspired a lot of people to really fight hard for important things.

Bernie battled for victims and their family members to the very end. Knowing that he might only have weeks to live, Bernie was still fighting for others from his hospital bed. I had the immense honour of meeting Bernie at his hospital bed in Concord hospital. He held my hand tightly for 25 minutes, extolling the virtues of the drug Alimta. Bernie was eligible to receive Alimta free of charge but hundreds and potentially thousands of patients remained ineligible, paying tens of thousands of dollars to access a treatment that relieves pain and prolongs life. Vowing to take up his fight, I collected thousands of signatures from my constituents in my electorate of Lowe. With the assistance of others, Bernie was already well on his way to collecting 17,000 other signatures. As we know, Alimta was finally listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Bernie Banton was a courageous man. He was a thoroughly decent man. He was a selfless man. This is perhaps no more evident than in a moving tribute that he had written for his wonderful wife, Karen, and read by his brother Bruce at his funeral. He said:

You seem so fragile at times.

But you are so strong when it’s needed. I’m sorry to leave you. But I’m so happy and blessed to have spent the past 16 years of my life married to you.

Go on with your life. See you in heaven. I love you. My soul mate. My wife. And always my darling.

Bernie, we will all go on with our lives. We will live them mindful of the legacy of justice and comfort you have left behind for asbestosis and mesothelioma sufferers. We may no longer be able to hear the audible rasp of your respirator, but your words and deeds will resonate with us for years to come. There is much to do, many fights to win. We will do our best to honour you by continuing your battle to raise awareness of asbestos related diseases and their debilitating nature. That is why I am so proud that the Bernie Banton Centre, located at Concord hospital in my electorate of Lowe, will work earnestly to provide early diagnosis and treatment for victims of asbestos related diseases.

The work of the Bernie Banton Centre will take on a heightened sense of importance in the years ahead as ordinary Australians expose themselves to asbestos fibres, not at work but at home. The number of asbestos related cases in Australia is not expected to peak for another decade. In the last 50 years, hundreds of thousands of Australians have unknowingly been exposed to asbestos products in their homes and at work, including mums washing clothes covered in asbestos fibres, dads cutting fibro sheets in the backyard and any children standing nearby. None knew of the dangers confronting them. Now there is a wave of cases of asbestos related diseases appearing among a new generation of home renovators. In my electorate of Lowe, where old Federation and Californian bungalow homes abound, there are many homes that have some asbestos in them. Bernie may no long be with us, but his battles clearly remain.

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