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Hardie contempt plan backed
October 8, 2004
THE NSW Government has the power to bring contempt of court proceedings against James Hardie, according to legal advice.
Attorney General Bob Debus today said the Crown solicitor had advised the Government it was legally entitled to move against the company and its legal advisers.
Mr Debus said the Crown solicitor had been instructed to assess all available evidence to determine whether contempt could be proven and whether James Hardie's lawyers should be referred to the Legal Services Commissioner for professional misconduct.
The advice follows the six-month Jackson inquiry into the underfunding of James Hardie's asbestos liabilities.
Commissioner David Jackson found that lawyers from Allens Arthur Robinson, acting for James Hardie, had inadvertently failed to disclose important information to the NSW Supreme Court in 2001, when the company applied to move its headquarters to the Netherlands.
The lawyers also told the court that James Hardie would leave $1.9 billion in partly-paid shares which Mr Jackson suggested could have been drawn on as a possible life-line for asbestos compensation in Australia, but those shares were later cancelled without the court being informed.
Mr Debus said the Government would push ahead with a prosecution if there was sufficient evidence.
"I do not expect to receive final advice on these matters for many weeks but we will certainly prosecute if we are advised that there is sufficient evidence," he said.
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