Inspect Hardie's books - Xenophon
By Peter Veness, Drew Cratchley and Stephen JohnsonTue Oct 27 00:20:02 EST 2009
Mon Oct 26 13:20:02 UTC 2009
CANBERRA, Oct 26 AAP - The books of James Hardie should be thoroughly checked to ensure the company is not hiding any funds that should be going to asbestos victims, independent senator Nick Xenophon says.
"Show me the books," Senator Xenophon told reporters in Canberra on Monday.
"The government should be pursuing James Hardie and its directors to extract every last cent."
His call to study James Hardie's financial situation was made after reports the fund used to compensate victims was running dry.
The $1.8 billion fund, set up by James Hardie, has just $140 million left in the kitty to fund claims running at $100 million a year.
Senator Xenophon was responsible for legislation that helped victims when he was a state politician, now he is turning his attention to the federal government.
He says the federal government "needs to step in".
"State and federal governments knew for generations how dangerous asbestos was," he said.
"This has been a failure of regulation and we need to fill the gap if there is a default," Senator Xenophon said.
"I'm quietly confident the federal government will do the right thing."
In response, Corporate Law Minister Chris Bowen warned James Hardie to fulfill its legal obligations but did not commit the government to meeting any gap in funding.
"The government shares the community's concern about the difficulties faced by the victims of asbestos disease and their families," Mr Bowen said.
In a lengthy statement James Hardie defended its record.
"James Hardie is committed to contributing to the Asbestos Injuries Compensation Fund when its net operating cash flow is positive," James Hardie chief executive officer Louis Gries said.
Mr Gries said the global financial crisis was the dominant reason behind the company's struggles to contribute to the fund last financial year.
"New housing construction in the US has fallen over 75 per cent, from its peak of more than two million houses in late 2005-early 2006, to just over 500,000 in 2009," he said.
"In fiscal year 2009, James Hardie derived approximately 77 per cent of its net sales in the US."
