FEW of us will forget the heroic struggle of anti-asbestos campaigner Bernie Banton, who died in 2007. Or his widow Karen, one of many Australian family members who have lost loved ones due to the harmful effects of this terrible substance.

Bernie was well known to many Aussies because of his brave fight for justice against James Hardie.

Despite struggling with the horrendous personal impacts of this disease, Bernie worked tirelessly to secure a historic settlement on behalf of all asbestos victims.

Bernie was an ordinary bloke with an extraordinary heart who led an extraordinary life.

Along with Bernie, at least 10,000 other Australians have died from this crippling disease.

People like John Cameron.

John was 79 when he was diagnosed with mesothelioma.

He was fit and healthy right up until his diagnosis, enjoying retirement with his wife Miriam. He could have expected many more happy years with his family.

But John died just three months after being diagnosed, leaving behind a devastated wife, three children and six grandchildren.

It is believed John had contact with asbestos in the early 1950s while building a power station. Up until his diagnosis there was no indication a silent killer lurked.

It was only after his diagnosis that he made the connection that he had been exposed to asbestos much earlier in his life.

Australia is paying dearly for its reliance on asbestos from the 1940s to 1980s. We have one of the world's highest incidences of asbestos-related diseases, nearly double that of the US.

The incidence of mesothelioma, which can take 35 to 40 years to develop, is rising and is yet to reach a peak.

Between 1982 and 2007 there were just over 10,000 cases diagnosed in Australia. By 2020, it's estimated that an additional 13,000 Australians will have been diagnosed.

But Australia is not alone.

Worldwide, more than 107,000 people die every year from asbestos-related diseases because they were exposed to it at work. Several thousand more die each year from exposure through DIY work at home. Still more go unreported.

Shocking as it may seem to Australians, world trade in asbestos is actually growing - almost doubling since 2000.

Most asbestos is imported by developing countries, including many in the Asia-Pacific.

Australia's experience tells us that, in the years and decades to come, countries still using large amounts of asbestos will face serious long-term health consequences, including increasing cases of mesothelioma, lung cancer and asbestosis. For Australia, with its own tragic legacy of asbestos, this situation is unacceptable.

It's fair to ask why, if so much is already known about the asbestos hazard, some countries are still using it?

Despite its danger, asbestos is a cheap and effective building material. In many countries information about the dangers of using asbestos is either not well known or ignored.On the home front, Australia banned the new use, import and export of asbestos in December 2003. And the government is still working to minimise the asbestos hazard, including the new Mesothelioma Registry and a review to develop a long-term plan to boost asbestos awareness and improve the way we manage the risks.

Now we've signed up to an international convention on asbestos safety which commits us to protecting workers against the asbestos hazard. We've also been pushing hard inter-nationally to have white asbestos added to the list of hazardous chemicals controlled by an international treaty.

There is no doubt the international tide is turning against asbestos. A growing number of countries are passing laws to restrict or ban asbestos and more than 50 countries currently have at least some forms of asbestos ban in place.

But solid change is happening too slowly. Many more people will continue to die from asbestos-related diseases unless we do more.

I will move at the Australian Labor Party national conference that Australia must be at the forefront of global efforts to eliminate the scourge of asbestos. Australia can lead efforts to create better awareness of the true human and financial cost of asbestos.

We must increase awareness of the dangers in the workplace, and the environmental and public health hazards of asbestos. We must also consider ways in which developed countries can help developing countries deal with asbestos in the long term.

But our long-term goal must be clear. We must completely eliminate the danger to human health from asbestos around the globe. And this can only happen if countries stop using it and trading in it.

There is no place for asbestos in today's global economy. No material is worth dying for.

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