James Hardie to cut compensation fund contribution by $11m

CONSTRUCTION company James Hardie plans to cut contributions to its asbestos compensation fund by nearly $11 million next year.

CONSTRUCTION company James Hardie plans to cut contributions to its asbestos compensation fund by nearly $11 million next year.

The building giant yesterday blamed restructuring for the move, which it said was likely to reduce the amount it paid into the fund in July next year by up to $US11.4m ($10.76m).

Asbestos campaigners reacted angrily. "It's not the case that asbestos isn't manufactured any more and therefore is no longer a problem," Karen Banton, widow of veteran asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton, told Seven News last night. "Asbestos is everywhere."

Mesothelioma, a cancer usually triggered by asbestos exposure, has long been seen as a disease affecting men. But a study by the NSW Cancer Institute found that while the mesothelioma rate in men had stabilised, the rate in women was increasing by 4.9 per cent every year.

The number of women in their 80s diagnosed has reportedly increased by nearly eight times since the early 1970s. Up to a third of asbestos claimants are now women, Channel Seven reported last night.

Some women may have been exposed to asbestos when washing their husband's soiled clothes or through breathing asbestos through air conditioning.

James Hardie said its restructuring plans would incur a tax charge of about $32.6m in the fiscal year 2011, payable in the fiscal year 2012, which it said was the cause of the reduced payments to the compensation fund.

The company made the announcement as part of a plan to resume paying dividends to shareholders, and to buy back about 5 per cent of its stock. James Hardie shares yesterday closed up 23c, or 4.06 per cent, at $5.90.