Australia: Asbestos scandal claims Hardie scalps

Australia: Asbestos scandal claims Hardie scalps

James Hardie chair Meredith Hellicar has fallen on her sword after Australia's corporate watchdog launched a lawsuit to ban her from running a company. Ms Hellicar, and the two remaining directors who signed off on Hardie's plan in 2001 to separate the company from its asbestos liabilities, Michael Brown and Michael Gillfillan, resigned, all protesting their innocence. The move came days after the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) applied to the NSW Supreme Court to have 10 former and serving Hardie officers excluded from directorships, and to impose fines. ASIC has alleged Hardie breached a range of corporate laws in the course of its asbestos compensation scandal, in which the company set up an independent trust for its asbestos victims with what turned out to be an Aus$1.3 billion (£0.56bn) shortfall. Ms Hellicar will be entitled to a termination payment of around Aus$1 million (£400,000), plus superannuation and share option entitlements. In separate letters of resignation to the company, the three directors said they felt that in the interests of the company, they should resign to avoid any conflict of interest. James Hardie said it had regretfully accepted the resignations. It is understood the US securities authorities are keeping a close eye on proceedings. James Hardie is listed on Wall Street, and has been making massive profits in the US on the back of a housing boom. Earlier this month James Hardie ratified a long delayed Aus$4bn (£1.58bn) 40-year compensation deal (Risks 293). Payouts to people dying of asbestos disease or their relatives will be dwarfed by the termination payout the disgraced Hardie chair can expect.

• James Hardie: Company statement on the resignations [pdf]. ACTU news release and factsheet. The Australian. ABC News. ABC's The World Today. Northern Territory News.