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November 28, 2007
Bernie Banton, the asbestos campaigner died at 1am Monday morning. He became the representative of people ill and dying from asbestos-related diseases and affected by James Hardie's refusal to fund proper compensation. He lived long enough enough to settle a compensation suit against his old employer, a former subsidiary of James Hardie, and to learn the result of the election.
Alan Moir
Banton worked with Greg Combet and the ACTU to force James Hardie to make compensation for asbestos-related diseases caused by its building products. He helped to set up a $4 billion compensation fund and to help mesothelioma sufferers gain access to a drug to help ease their pain and possibly extend their lives.
The loss of Bernie Banton's life will be deeply mourned though out th nation.
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Gary,
I understand that Bernie Banton had been exposed to asbestos during the 1960s and 1970s, when he worked for James Hardie's insulation factory in Sydney. It was only in 1999 that he learned just how toxic that exposure had been, when he developed asbestosis. In August this year he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer for which there is no cure.
A tragic loss.