Commonwealth takes first steps towards new compensation fund for asbestos victims

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has written to the friends and family of a Canberra mesothelioma sufferer who grew up in a “Mr Fluffy” house, saying federal bureaucrats were actively investigating a new fund for compensation.

Key points:James Wallner contracted mesothelioma after living in a Mr Fluffy home as a child and being exposed to asbestosHe could not claim compensation through existing schemesThe federal government is now considering a compensation scheme for victims who were not exposed to asbestos through work

Last year veterinary scientist James Wallner, 54, was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma – a disease only caused by exposure to asbestos.

Commonwealth takes first steps towards new compensation fund for asbestos victims

But while most Australian asbestos victims were exposed while working in the construction industry, or as home renovators, Mr Wallner’s can be traced back to the house he grew up in and a seemingly innocent childhood game.

“I immediately thought of the home I lived in,” Mr Wallner told 7.30.

“I knew it was a Mr Fluffy home. I just didn’t think I could be that unlucky.”

James Wallner was just a toddler when the ceilings of his Canberra home were crammed with loose-fill asbestos insulation. (Supplied: James Wallner)

He was just a toddler when the ceilings of his Canberra home were crammed with loose-fill asbestos insulation. It was a new product sold by an enterprising Canberra tradie named Dirk Jansen, better known as Mr Fluffy.

His brother Bruce has vivid recollections of playing with a mound of asbestos that was left in the garage.

“I do remember that they left this tarpaulin with this mound of very sticky, attractive, dirty white fluffy stuff,” he said.

“We had no idea what it was of course, but it did make terrific floaty snowballs that exploded on impact when you threw them at your brother.”

James Wallner says he was told he may only live 12 months from diagnosis, and while he “tries not to count”, it has now been eight months.

“I can certainly feel that the disease is progressing,” he said.

“The average age is 75 for someone with mesothelioma … [so] at 54, I felt very ripped off.”

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