Families devastated by the incurable asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, are urging Australia to deal with the millions of tonnes of asbestos remaining in buildings across the country, including about a third of homes. The potentially deadly building material would have to be disclosed to prospective buyers and renters of older homes built before 1990 under a national plan.
Category
đŸ“º
TVTranscript
00:00Mark Drage lost his wife 18 months ago.
00:05Devastation, obviously.
00:07We're both working hard, saving for our retirement,
00:11and that curveball gets thrown at you.
00:15Kathleen was diagnosed with mesothelioma
00:18over 20 years after the couple helped renovate a beach house
00:22north of Perth.
00:24She climbed up onto a very old asbestos roof
00:27and ended up with fibres all over her clothing.
00:30Some of these products should have had a product recall years ago.
00:34That may have saved my wife's life.
00:37About 6 million tonnes of the material remains
00:40in everything from roofs to wall panels,
00:43with the cost of removal one of the big barriers.
00:46It's starting to show in the numbers and the amount of people
00:50that are coming down with an asbestos-related disease
00:53through home renovations.
00:55But it's not just an older person's disease.
00:5818-year-old Jarnie Greterichs in Gippsland
01:01is one of the youngest Australians to be diagnosed with mesothelioma.
01:05I ended up in hospital with my lungs being filled with fluid.
01:11I couldn't breathe.
01:13Jarnie's receiving immunotherapy treatment.
01:16Her family is still trying to pinpoint
01:18where she was exposed to asbestos fibres.
01:21It's one thing to be told yourself that you have cancer.
01:25I had that diagnosis.
01:27It's completely another thing to hear that your child has cancer,
01:31but to hear that it's something that could have been prevented.
01:36Exhibiting at this trade show in Newcastle,
01:39Barry Robson's been trying to raise awareness for 30 years.
01:43Any house built before 1990...
01:45He says stronger laws are needed,
01:48including registers disclosing
01:50if asbestos is present in homes on the market.
01:54In other words, that the buyer of that house
01:57knows that this house contains asbestos.
02:00And that's a proposal that's actually outlined in this strategic plan,
02:05which points out that over 4,000 Australians are still dying
02:09from asbestos-related diseases each year.
02:12The plan calls for incentives to encourage homeowners
02:16to have asbestos surveys done,
02:18and for these to be disclosed at point of sale and lease.
02:22But the real estate industry is calling for bonded asbestos
02:25that's in good condition to be exempt from any mandatory rules
02:29unless there's a clear risk.
02:31I think it's important to disclose potential asbestos
02:35to our renters and our purchasers,
02:38but we just need to work out how it's best to do that
02:43without imposing extra costs on consumers.
02:46These professional asbestos removalists aren't taking any chances.
02:51People are a bit sort of maybe naive or flippant about it.
02:55They think it'll be OK, it won't happen to me.
02:58They're set to be busy in coming decades.
03:01Well, the old saying is, do it yourself, do yourself in.
03:05It's as simple as that.
03:07It'll be up to each state when they carry out the measures
03:10within the Asbestos National Plan.
03:12Affected families believe they're long overdue.