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Govt should give back JH donations: ALP
02:31 AEST Wed Sep 22 2004
Labor has renewed its call for the federal government to hand back Liberal Party donations from James Hardie after a long-awaited report found the asbestos manufacturer misled the public.
The company has been the subject of a six-month inquiry into the underfunding of compensation for victims of asbestos disease contracted from James Hardie products.
Commissioner David Jackson, in the report handed down on Tuesday, was highly critical of James Hardie chief executive Peter Macdonald, describing as misleading and deceptive his statement that the company's asbestos liabilities were fully funded.
Last month, Opposition Leader Mark Latham handed back $77,500 in donations from James Hardie to a fighting fund to help victims of the company's asbestos products.
Labor put pressure on the government to do the same but Prime Minister John Howard said at the time he would wait for the findings of the inquiry before passing judgment on the company.
Opposition corporate governance spokesman Stephen Conroy said there was now no excuse for the Howard government to keep the donations.
"The Howard government has failed to do the right thing and hand Liberal donations back," he said.
"In light of the report, there is no excuse for the Howard government to hold on to that money now."
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Australia's Hardie may face charges over asbestos 22 September 2004 SYDNEY: Australian building products firm James Hardie Industries NV may face criminal charges after a government inquiry found it broke the law by saying it had enough money in a fund to compensate thousands of asbestos victims.
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