Australia’s Defense Minister, furious about the request from the country’s military for a three-year exemption from laws banning the use of products containing asbestos, has ordered the defense department’s leaders to stop using asbestos parts and equipment immediately.

In 2004, the Defense Department was granted a one-time, three-year extension to keep using asbestos components in brake pads, gaskets, seals, fire barriers, insulation and packaging, notes an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Another exemption was sought last year.

A senior Defense source said it was “understood that the Minister for Defense is very disappointed that Defense continues to seek exemptions to the use of asbestos parts”.

“The Minister believes that Defense should be held to the same high standards as the private sector when it comes to asbestos, while obliviously ensuring that national security is not compromised,” the source told the newspaper.

It was understood the department would “look at all possibilities and alternatives to this matter”.

Throughout the past 80 years, exposure to asbestos among Defense Department staff has resulted in thousands of cases of asbestos-related disease, some fatal, the article notes.

“While it is too late for the hundreds of victims of asbestos disease in Defense over the last 60 years, it should be happy news for current personnel and contractors,” said Leigh Hubbard, president of the Victoria Asbestos Diseases Society.

“Until late last year, when unions and asbestos groups demanded some accountability, the exemption was a fait accompli with the Australian Safety and Compensation Council; the Government authority [was] about to give a blanket exemption.

“We wait with interest to see the results of the minister’s pressure.”

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