Whyalla Asbestos Victims Support Group

Mr HUGHES (Giles) (16:23): When parliament is not sitting, I always join in with the Whyalla Asbestos Victims Support Group on their memorial day, which happened last Thursday. It is never a joyous occasion. In fact, it is incredibly sad and tragic when you reflect on the fact that from just mesothelioma alone over 20,000 Australians have died over the past years with more to come, and that is not counting the other asbestos-related lung cancers and diseases.

This year in Whyalla was particularly sad. Each year the number of crosses with names grows, but this year was particularly sad because a man by the name of John Arthur passed away. John Arthur had his start working down here in Adelaide for Hardie's at Elizabeth, manufacturing asbestos piping. Then he went on to work for the old E&WS where he also worked with asbestos piping.

John eventually ended up in Whyalla. Twenty years ago he started the Whyalla Asbestos Victims Support Group along with his wife, Marlene, and over the years they put in an enormous amount of work. John was always there to support others, to be a hug, a set of ears, to listen to people, to provide tangible and practical support and advice to people, families and workers who had been exposed to asbestos and who were faced with incredibly difficult circumstances.

John passed away this year, and he did suffer from asbestosis. He was often short of breath, often in pain, but finally he passed away this year after that 20 years of being a stalwart for the Whyalla Asbestos Victims Support Group. It is with great sadness that I note his passing.

It is interesting to reflect upon the fact that 29 December will mark 20 years since the total ban on asbestos in Australia occurred. That was too late for many, many people. When you consider that the evidence in relation to mesothelioma was established 40 years before that total ban, when you consider that the evidence for general lung cancers in relation to asbestos had been established even before that—and asbestosis itself goes back even further—the fact that it took 40 years after proving that asbestos caused mesothelioma for it to be totally banned in this country was nothing short of a disgrace, with all those lives cut short and cut short in a very, very difficult way for many people.

Hopefully, we have learnt some lessons. Coming up imminently at a national level there will be that decision about whether to ban engineered stone. Engineered stone has a very high silica content. It is already killing people. There will be an opportunity for an outright ban, so one would hope that the state governments, in conjunction with the federal government, will introduce an outright ban.

I am incredibly pleased that the Malinauskas Labor government have indicated that if that does not happen here in South Australia we will act alone, but I cannot see that happening. I think that other states will act, and I think that the federal government will act because we do not want a repetition of what has happened in the past with asbestos.

We all know that when it comes to engineered stone it is not a necessity. There are all sorts of options—benign options—that we can use, and I am not going to list them, as you all know them. Hopefully, in the very near future, I think over the next few days or a bit longer, we will get a good result and we will not revisit the profound tragedy that has been the exposure to asbestos in this nation.