James Wallner, a 54-year-old veterinary surgeon, spent 18 years living in a Mr Fluffy house in his youth. He recalls having "snowball" fights with his brothers using loose-fill asbestos insulation in the family garage.

In July 2020 he was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma. He is one of the first known Mr Fluffy house residents to contract the disease.

Mr Wallner's wife, Linda, has said her husband is now in the "end-of-life stage" and that his condition has deteriorated.

The family had to bear the economic impact of his condition alone until an ACT government decision to grant a $250,000 "grace and favour payment" last December. There had had been no recognition of loss of income, the heavy costs of medical treatment not covered under Medicare, or the financial and emotional impact.

Because the insulation company ceased to operate many decades ago it was not possible to seek compensation through the courts.

These are just some of the reasons the Wallners campaigned hard and long for the federal government to assist Mr Fluffy mesothelioma sufferers.

They first wrote to the Health Minister, Greg Hunt, shortly after the initial diagnosis last July. It has taken 10 months, virtually a lifetime for Mr Wallner, to achieve this result.

It is hard to understand why this should have taken so long given it has been known for 33 years that the burden of responsibility for the Mr Fluffy debacle, which finally culminated in a controversial billion-dollar buyback of more than 1000 affected homes, rests with the federal government.

Hawke government-era cabinet papers released in January 2015 revealed that as far back as 1968 - the same year the Mr Fluffy company began installing the insulation in homes across the ACT - warnings had been issued about the dangers of the product.

"Whilst the government was not in any way involved in the asbestos insulation process, the then departments of interior and works were advised of the possibility of a problem for house occupants by the then health department in 1968," cabinet documents dating from July 1988 said.

The Hawke government responded to growing concerns about possible health risks by commissioning a survey of Canberra's then 60,000 homes to determine the extent of the problem.

This culminated in a botched clean-up program that gave people living in affected properties a false sense of security. It would be decades before the ACT government made the tough decision to buy back the contaminated homes and to tear them down.

It is significant that even in 1988 the federal government was doing everything it could to avoid accepting any responsibility for the harm its negligence in failing to act on clear public health advice 20 years before had caused.

"I want to make it very clear that in agreeing to provide this support [for the survey and the remediation of the affected homes] the government is not in any way accepting liability for the present situation," the then territories minister, Gary Punch, said.

While the details of the Asbestos Disease Assistance Scheme have yet to be announced it is to be hoped that the emphasis will be on simplicity of access and speed.

People who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma do not have time to waste jumping through unnecessary bureaucratic hoops.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: