Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the ACT Government Loan Bill 2014. Firstly, I would like to thank my colleagues for supporting the quick passage of this bill through the parliament. This bill is of great importance to over 1,000 homeowners in the ACT who have been faced with the awful reality that their homes are contaminated, or potentially contaminated, with loose-fill asbestos. This bill provides the appropriate mechanism for the provision of a $750 million loan in the form of a concessional loan to the ACT government to deliver a program to buy back and demolish houses in the ACT that have been affected by Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos.

This is the first part of the $1 billion loan facility agreed between the federal and ACT governments on 28 October 2014. Seven hundred and fifty million dollars will be paid this financial year, with the remaining $250 million to be paid in the next financial year. This loan will allow the ACT government to enter into individual agreements with those individual homeowners to buy back their homes, demolish those asbestos-contaminated blocks, clear the blocks and then look to resell the blocks and recoup some of the costs across the overall scheme. The ACT government plans to buy and demolish 1,021 homes contaminated with Mr Fluffy asbestos insulation across Canberra. It is estimated that the buyback and demolition scheme will take five years to complete.

The loan arrangement between the ACT and Commonwealth governments will be for a 10-year period. I am pleased that the government has facilitated this loan to the ACT government. Without the loan it would simply not have been possible for a small jurisdiction like the ACT to make the quick and responsible response to the devastating situation facing so many families and individuals in Canberra who, less than a year ago, believed that the deadly loose-fill asbestos had been removed from their homes many years before.

I also acknowledge the bipartisan character that this conversation, negotiation and ultimate outcome have had, and I particularly acknowledge my colleague Senator Zed Seselja in that regard. I think it is appropriate at this juncture, however, to note that surprise and disappointment have been expressed that the Commonwealth did not acknowledge a shared liability of the situation for Mr Fluffy homeowners. Offering the loan as I have described still places the full burden and liability on the ratepayers of the ACT—a jurisdiction that was the responsibility of the Commonwealth when the initial loose-fill asbestos remediation took place. It is also very fair to note that this loan facility provides better terms than those which could be secured by the ACT government, thereby providing a quantifiable financial benefit to the ACT. Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has reflected on this point in the ACT Legislative Assembly this morning.

This morning, legislative assembly colleagues have introduced and debated their own bill, the partner bill to this legislation, to facilitate the program that has been put in place. I would like to quote from the Chief Minister's speech:

Forty-six years ago, well before self-government for the ACT was even contemplated, the Commonwealth had the opportunity to prevent pure asbestos being pumped into the ceilings of Canberra houses. The risks were known. Clear advice was provided. That opportunity was missed.

In the late 1980s the Commonwealth recognised the danger and designed a remediation program that aimed to remove visible and accessible asbestos insulation from affected homes.

Consideration was given at the time to demolishing the affected houses. That opportunity, too, was missed. In September this year the ACT Government asked the Commonwealth to honour a Memorandum of Understanding which dictated that future costs in relation to these homes be shared as they were during the remediation program.

Thankfully and appropriately, the ACT Chief Minister and assembly colleagues have not dwelt on this history but have focused ahead on facilitating the quickest possible action and remediation for affected homeowners

I am really pleased to report that the ACT government has introduced, as I said, their legislation this morning in an extraordinary sitting of the ACT Legislative Assembly relating to the remediation program, which will enable the Asbestos Response Taskforce to begin making buyback offers for the 1,021 Mr Fluffy homes as early as next week.

The Loose Fill Asbestos Insulation Eradication Scheme, as it is known, is unprecedented both here in the ACT and indeed in the world. As the Chief Minister said at the introduction of that legislation just a very short time ago, 'The cost and the complexity will test our government, our budget and our community.' The ACT government has taken responsibility to bring a permanent end to an asbestos legacy which has plagued our city for almost half its history. This by no means was an easy thing to do and continues to cause much distress in our community. As the Chief Minister has acknowledged again this morning, these are beloved family homes, and this process will bring great sadness to many. But the fact remains that they are not safe and nor can they be made so. In around 10 per cent of houses contamination is so bad that they are uninhabitable. Fibres have been detected in the living areas of between 50 and 60 per cent of houses, sometimes in visible quantities, and in the rest we know that fibres populate the walls, roofs and subfloors. There have been no easy choices in seeking to correct tragic failures of the past.

The Mr Fluffy legacy has had a profound impact upon the lives of so many of my fellow Canberrans. While the financial impact on families cannot be overstated—it has been huge for so many—the deeply devastating toll upon Canberrans has primarily been an emotional one, born of their sense of responsibility for those affected and for the wellbeing of their families, friends and people who may have worked on their houses in the ensuing period.

Barbara Walsh, the chief editor of the Fluffy Owners and Residents' Action Group's impact statement—tabled just last week by Senator Zed Seselja and myself—in her introduction to the impact statement eloquently distils the collective feelings of fear, guilt, anger and disillusionment of those touched by the toxic legacy of Mr Fluffy. Ms Walsh said:

There is overwhelming guilt from parents who feel they have betrayed their children by not keeping them safe. There are people with rare cancers who may never know if it was their random choice of house that contributed to their illness. There is a deep sense of grief that people will lose their homes and gardens, their havens, that hold so many precious memories, but which are now seen as a poison. There is anger that a government remediation program in the 1980s assured them the houses were safe to live in.

These stories contained within the Fluffy Owners and Residents Action Group impact statement are gut-wrenching, raw and powerful. They detail the deeply personal impact upon individuals and their families; the real and constant havoc and stress visited upon their lives by this calamity continues today.

None are more powerful than those from those whose lives have been touched by illnesses they fear are the result of exposure to Mr Fluffy's dangerous legacy or who fear for their children's futures. Chris from Canberra shared his story, and I would like to relay just a little of it to the Senate today:

Do I believe my mesothelioma came from my home? 100 per cent. My wife died of cancer in her 50s, and now I worry that she might have gotten it from the home too. At the time I didn't know. We had two family pets die of cancer. My biggest worry is my kids. My son worked on the roof with me.

Chris's story is, sadly, not unique. The devastating and life-changing consequences contained within it are typical of so many affected by Mr Fluffy. Lesley and Allan of Pearce also shared their story:

We are angry, so angry, distraught, guilt-stricken and very rapidly becoming weary, beaten and without hope. How could we end up in such a dire situation? Our house and our entire lives, as well as those of our beloved children, are contaminated to the very core by Mr Fluffy. Yes, compensate us fairly for what we have lost materially, but there is no compensation on this earth for the destruction of our peace of mind and the enduring fear we all now face of malignant disease with every breath we take, until the day we die.

This is from Judith of Hawker:

My children have not blamed us for this exposure. However when one of them said, 'I grew up in a house with asbestos.

I had no choice,' the comment cut me to the core. I live with it every day.

And Jenny from Aranda wrote:

We have lived in our Mr Fluffy home since 1997 when we moved in with our two children, aged four and seven at the time. I have always described our house as a happy house , not only because of the happy relationships nurtured inside it but also because it is in a lovely setting and filled with sunshine. It is the home in which I intended to continue to enjoy my retirement for the foreseeable future. I no longer feel this way. I see it now as a toxic house where I do not feel comfortable having visitors and here I shall not ever entertain my (future) grandchildren. I feel very guilty to think that I have exposed my children to this risk. Keeping children healthy and safe is one essential key to being a good parent, the most important role I have undertaken in my lifetime, and I have failed them in this. I have great concerns for the health of my husband who has crawled in the now condemned subfloor to install internet cabling. This area is where my children and others have fed our cats over many years and it has been regularly accessed as a storage area.

The unknowable, eternal nature of this distress is painfully elucidated in the submission from Clare in Hackett:

More than anything, I hope that our daughters have not been exposed to a dangerous amount of amosite. Will I spend the rest of my life wondering?

Will I die wondering?

An anonymous contributor to the impact statement, from Weston Creek, illustrates the heavy weight of that sense of responsibility for those whose connections were fleeting and tangential:

A lovely tradie who did all the electrical work on our house developed mesothelioma and died in August this year. I know it wasn't from working on our house specifically. Still, all those years, all those people, and we didn't know to warn them. We didn't even know we might need to protect ourselves.

These are people who all need to be looked after. I am so proud of the ACT government and, indeed, the ACT assembly as a whole that they have moved to establish this program that will resolve this problem once and for all.

I would like to conclude today by reflecting on the mental health issues associated with the stress and trauma resulting from living in a Mr Fluffy house. These people need to be looked after. I am really pleased that the ACT government has put in place free counselling to support affected families. I would like to take this opportunity to say to anybody who is affected and feeling distressed: please, you need to find support. You need to get support early. We understand—I think the whole community understands—what you are experiencing and going through. The following is taken from the taskforce website, and describes the supports that are in place for affected people and their families—in fact, for anyone who is distressed by what is going on:

The NewAccess Program is provided at no cost through the ACT Medicare Local and offers support from trained coaches for those who are experiencing mild anxiety or depression. People registered with the Asbestos taskforce can self-refer to this service by phoning the central intake number on 6287 8066. The coaches provide evidence based, low intensity psychological strategies and support, either face to face or over the phone, for up to 6 sessions.

For anyone who is experiencing moderate anxiety or depression your usual family doctor can complete a mental health treatment plan and provide referral for free sessions with a psychologist under the ACT Medicare Local’s HealthinMind program. For those registered with the Asbestos taskforce, any ‘gap’ fee for the GP visit … will be reimbursed to ensure that there is no out-of-pocket expense.

ACT Medicare Local will also:

… ensure priority access to NewAccess coaches and HealthinMind psychologists for eligible people registered with the Asbestos Taskforce.

For any urgent/crisis mental health concerns, particularly in relation to acute stress and/or risks to the immediate safety of individuals, please contact the Mental Health Triage intake line on 1800 629 354.

All of this information is available on the taskforce website but I underline it here today because I know that it is the psychological impact that is going to be one of the enduring legacies for people who have lived in a Mr Fluffy house. I have met with many families, personally, and seen and experienced the level of trauma and distress as they have shared with me their stories as, I know, have all my parliamentary colleagues in the ACT government. I know Senator Seselja has had similar contact.

I used to work with asbestos as a removalist when I was young. That experience led to a whole range of things, including my becoming active in the area of fighting for the occupational health and safety rights of working people. I know what it is like to live a life with asbestos in your lungs and not know. In this way I have the deepest empathy for all of the Mr Fluffy families. I am so proud to be part of a solution that will provide permanent respite for these people. I am incredibly proud of the Chief Minister and my ACT colleagues and I am incredibly proud of the ACT assembly for the bipartisan support they have shown through this program and tackling these problems. I am proud of the fact that I am in a federal parliament that has contributed positively in some way to finding a permanent solution to this devastating problem.

My heart goes out to those families and individuals whose lives this issue will continue to touch. We are doing what we can for you. We understand the depth of your distress. We hope that this program can alleviate at least some of that for you.