Bernie Banton

Bernard Douglas (Bernie) Banton AM (1946 – 27 November 2007) was an Australian social justice campaigner. He was the widely-recognised face of the legal and political campaign to achieve compensation for the many sufferers of asbestos-related conditions, which they contracted after working for the company James Hardie.

Banton suffered from asbestosis, mesothelioma and Asbestos-Related Pleural Disease (ARPD), which required him to carry an oxygen tank wherever he went.

In October 2007, in the midst of the 2007 federal election campaign, Banton expressed his disgust at Minister for Health Tony Abbott for not attending a pre-arranged meeting at Abbott's electorate office in Sydney to present the minister with a petition to include a mesothelioma drug on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Abbott, who had been in Victoria at the time, dismissed the petition as a "stunt" and implied that, despite his illness, Banton's motives were not "pure of heart". Abbott later apologised, but did not back away from his criticism.[1]

In his victory speech on 24 November after winning the election, the Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd paid special tribute to Banton, saying that Bernie represented the "great Australian trade union movement" and was a beacon of decency in his fight for compensation.[2]

Bernie Banton died at his home on 27 November, just three days after the election.[3]