AUSTRALIAN ASBESTOS CAMPAIGNER GRAVELY ILL
Asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton is gravely ill in a Sydney hospital, with his family fearful he will not survive to see the outcome of a new compensation claim against James Hardie.
The Hardie Group manufactured asbestos products (cement, piping, insulation and brake linings) for over 70 years in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia. Over half the claims made to the NSW Dust Diseases Tribunal in 2002 were against the Hardie Group. There are accusations that the company did not provide sufficient funds for settling claims from victims of asbestos related diseases. A major problem for the group were the sheer number of products they made that contained asbestos.
Bernie Banton is known throughout Australia as the face of the campaign against James Hardie. Already having received settlement from a fund set up for asbestosis sufferers, Mr Banton now has a claim lodged for his mesothelioma. The James Hardie subsidiary. Amaca, against who the claim is lodged are fighting it.
Mr Banton's lawyer is reported as saying, "What we're saying is you've got to ignore the previous compensation, this is a new disease," and that, of course, is where the trouble lies; Bernie is the first person to ever come back and make a second claim once he's been compensated the first time.
Sadly, it seems likely that Bernie will not live long enough to see the outcome of this claim.
In the shadow of the corporate veil: James Hardie and asbestos compensation
Bernie Banton seriously ill, says wife