Fears asbestos removal cost will be too high

There are fears the cost of removing deadly asbestos fibres from millions of homes and buildings will be deemed too high by the Government.

A Federal Government review has been grappling with how to remove the building material from factories, schools and houses and it is due to announce its response to the review tomorrow.

Decades after asbestos began to be phased out, more than 600 Australians are diagnosed with asbestos-related disease every year.

“We’ve got a once in a generation opportunity for all parties to cooperate and put in place a national strategic plan that once and for all will deal with the blight of asbestos in Australia,” review chairman Geoff Fary said.

The review recommends removing asbestos from from all Government and commercial buildings by 2030.

It also wants every house built before 1987 to be inspected before sale, lease or renovation, with any asbestos found then removed by someone licensed to do it.

“They’re perfectly safe to live in unless you disturb them – that’s when the problem can happen,” said Terry Miller, who used to work for James Hardie.

“But to get rid of all these places it would cost billions of dollars to get rid of this stuff.”