On the last day of the NSW government inquiry into building products firm James Hardie's asbestos compensation fund, the barrister representing the company at the inquiry made an anouncement implying that James Hardie would pay full compensation to all existing sufferers and those who fall ill from exposure to its asbestos products.
For half a century, James Hardie was the major producer of asbestos and asbestos products in Australia and also an exporter of the mineral. Its executives were aware of the deadly health effects of asbestos for decades, but covered this up and did nothing to protect workers and the public from its deadly products.
After being subject to a wide range of claims for compensation from its employees and others who contracted asbestos-related diseases, James Hardie restructured itself. It reincorporated itself in the Netherlands to ensure its assets and large profit and revenue stream from operations in the US would be out of reach of compensation claims.
Already 2960 Australians have received some compensation for exposure to James Hardie products. A report to the inquiry estimated another 7900 would fall ill from the cancers over the next 40 years.
Fifty-four days of hearings at the NSW inquiry have provided clear evidence that the top executives of James Hardie, particularly CEO Peter Macdonald, have committed fraud. Macdonald had falsely claimed accountancy firms had told James Hardie that the $293 million compensation fund it had set up for asbestos victims in 2001 was adequately funded. In fact, the fund is expected to run out of money within two or three years. The total compensation shortfall is expected to be about $2 billion.
It was widely reported by the mainstream media that John Sheehan, counsel assisting the inquiry, would recommend that Macdonald be charged with fraud, and thus face a jail term of up to eight years. However, on August 14 Sheehan denied that he would make any recommendations to the inquiry.
The fact that even the corporate media seem to have accepted that Macdonald is a crook should warn asbestos sufferers not to take the company's latest offer at face value.
Indeed, in announcing James Hardie's latest offer, its barrister did not say the company would unconditionally fully fund its compensation liabilities, only that it is committed to "taking responsibility for the significant funding of the liabilities".
James Hardie is undoubtedly trying to head off the growing public pressure for the government inquiry to recommend that the company and its top executives face justly deserved criminal charges.
James Hardie's latest offer is also conditional on replacing the common law compensation system with a statutory scheme that the company can negotiate with governments, asbestos support groups and unions — and thus hope to reduce the amount of money it has to pay out to its victims.
This is not good enough. James Hardie should be forced to pay full, unconditional compensation to all the victims — and its bosses should be held accountable for the human suffering they have caused.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, August 18, 2004.
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