April 19th, 2005

The battle of a New South Wales Aboriginal Community is over after James Hardie agreed to compensate the victims that were affected by the former asbestos mine in the town. The community has fought a long and arduous battle for compensation, where many former workers were exposed to the dust at the mine at Baryulgil. James Hardie had recently agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement for asbestos victims, and this community had raised concerns over being left out of the compensation settlement.

The move by James Hardie means that workers and residents of the community will also receive compensation in the event that they have contracted an asbestos related disease. Asbestos is known to cause a range of health problems, some more serious than others. One of the most serious is mesothelioma, a deadly and incurable cancer that can take decades to develop and can reduce the lifespan to a matter of months after development.

James Hardie has been commended for extending the compensation settlement to include the community. Senator Aden Ridgeway stated: "This has been a sad chapter in our history and a long fight for justice. I hope the process now will be straightforward for all involved and that the people of Baryulgil will receive a fair and just outcome."

One former mine worker described the condition in which he worked while at the mine: “I was working for eight hours a day in the dust with the bagging machine, bagging the asbestos after it went through the milling process. (The mill was) absolutely reeking with dust. It was falling through the air.”