Watch Paul Barry's Walkley Award nominated Four Corners story - 'Blue Death' (1988) on our YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/kpBS4p9Cd20

In 1988, ABC’s Four Corners program and reporter Paul Barry exposed the scandalous impact of blue asbestos mining at Wittenoom in WA. Mining had stopped in the 1960s, but locals were now dying of mesothelioma and asbestosis. The program increased pressure on the mine operator (CSR) to adequately compensate those whose lives have been affected by exposure to this deadly substance.

Four Corners presenter, Kerry O'Brien in 2011:
"(This) program was a trailblazing expose in May 1988, detailing what remains as Australia’s worst industrial disaster. It related to a blue asbestos mine at Wittenoom, in the heart of WA's Pilbara region. In the 1940s, Wittenoom was proudly promoted as a 'development miracle', becoming the biggest town in the north of WA in just four years. The mine, operated by a subsidiary of the industrial giant CSR, only lasted 20 years before it was forced to close down. But the damage to the people of Wittenoom over the decades since, has been immense. The company ultimately had to admit that it had knowledge of dangers posed by asbestos, when the mine opened in the 40s. But as the deaths mounted, it fought tooth and nail to avoid accepting responsibility for compensation to victims and their families. At the time this program went to air called ‘Blue Death’, 300 men and women had died asbestosis or mesothelioma, a particularly virulent form of lung disease directly related to blue asbestos…"