Bernie Banton, Australian activist (b. 1946)
Bernard Douglas Banton AM (13 October 1946 – 27 November 2007) was an Australian social justice campaigner. He was the widely recognized face of the legal and political campaign to achieve compensation for the many sufferers of asbestos-related conditions, which they contracted after either working for the company James Hardie or being exposed to James Hardie Industries' products.
Banton himself suffered from multiple forms of asbestos-related diseases, being diagnosed with asbestosis and also asbestos-related pleural disease (ARPD) in January 1999 after having worked at James Hardie Industries, decades earlier, making asbestos lagging. These conditions required him to carry an oxygen tank wherever he went. On the 17 August 2007, he was also diagnosed with terminal peritoneal mesothelioma asbestos cancer, dying a short 103 days later. The 2009 book Killer Company details Banton's fight against James Hardie.Banton brought an action against Amaca Pty Ltd before the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales.