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The NRL’s Parramatta Eels new major sponsorship with James Hardie has faced accusations of sportwashing from advocates for asbestos illness survivors.

Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia president, Barry Robson strongly disapproves of the sponsorship deal.

As an advocate for asbestos victims since the 1960s, in an interview with Sponsorship News, he criticised James Hardie for attempting to use sports sponsorship to rehabilitate its image.

He pointed to the company’s “historical negligence” and failure to adequately compensate victims, despite legal obligations.

The building materials manufacturer’s asbestos scandal is well documented.

It was found to have continued selling the hazardous material despite knowing its dangers. It only ceased using asbestos under government pressure and later attempted to avoid compensating victims by relocating its head office to the Netherlands.

A trust was established in 2007 which was supposed to compensate victims for the next 40 years.

Sponsorship News has been told that Hardie’s now refuses to pay out in a number of cases. It claims the rules of the trust don’t allow it.

Robson said the new sponsorship deal brings back painful memories for many affected by asbestos-related diseases.

He added that seeing the James Hardie name associated with Parramatta could trigger traumatic recollections for families of victims, too.

“Every time they'll see a football player now with Parramatta, they'll see the name Hardie and it'll bring it back to them,” Robson said.

Noting the seriousness of the issue, Robson called for those company directors responsible for the scandal to face industrial manslaughter charges because they were aware of the products’ dangers but continued to produce them until the 1990s.

Robson also highlighted ongoing issues with the asbestos compensation fund that was established after prolonged campaigning.

Initially, the NSW government propped up the fund when James Hardie failed to make adequate contributions.

The federal government under Kevin Rudd later agreed to share the underwriting responsibilities.

Robson said that the company’s failure to fulfil its financial obligations has required continuous government intervention to maintain payouts.

Robson also criticised Hardie’s past public relations strategies, which he believes were designed to portray the company as philanthropic while they actually avoided financial responsibility.

Calling the Parramatta sponsorship deal as “putting lipstick on a pig,” he asserted that company cannot “run away from its past actions.”

“This could damage Parramatta’s reputation as a football team and a family community-orientated organisation,” he warned.

Meanwhile, other advocates for victims are calling for the NRL to intervene. Tony Khoury, executive director of the Waste Contractors & Recyclers Association of NSW said the proposed sponsorship was “appalling”. 

He accused the Eels of seemingly pursuing a few corporate dollars by putting Hardie’s “horrible behaviour” to one side. 

Many workers and their families continue to suffer from historic exposure to asbestos and “James Hardie merely want to improve their corporate image – just as they did with this sponsorship in the 1980s. I truly hope the NRL intervenes,” Khoury concluded.

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