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Question and Answer Tracking Details

999 - Premier - MEDICAL RESEARCH AND COMPENSATION FOUNDATION

Nile, Fred to the Premier, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Citizenship

With regard to the announcement of the Special Commission of Inquiry into the establishment of the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation, will the terms of reference:

(1) Examine all the impacts of the alleged blow-out in asbestos liability claims?

(2) Include all parties, including the NSW Government, which along with other manufacturers constitute 85% of liabilities associated with asbestos?
Answer -

The Premier has advised:

The terms of reference for the Special Commission of Inquiry require it to inquire into and report on:

(i) the current financial position of the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (“MRCF”), and whether it is likely to meet its future asbestos related liabilities in the medium to long term;

(ii) the circumstances in which MRCF was separated from the James Hardie Group and whether this may have resulted in or contributed to a possible insufficiency of assets to meet its future asbestos related liabilities;

 

(iii) the circumstances in which any corporate reconstruction or asset transfers occurred within or in relation to the James Hardie Group prior to the separation of MRCF from the James Hardie Group to the extent that this may have affected the ability of MRCF to meet its current and future asbestos related liabilities; and

(iv) the adequacy of current arrangements available to MRCF under the Corporations Act to assist MRCF to manage its liabilities, and whether reform is desirable to those arrangements to assist MRCF to manage its obligations to current and future claimants.

Question asked on 18 March 2004 (session 53-1) and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 47
Answer received on 22 April 2004 and published in Questions & Answers Paper No. 51

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