Mr Fluffy: Our Voices at the Canberra Museum and Gallery

28 August 2023

The Canberra Museum and Gallery’s free Mr Fluffy exhibition shows the devastation that Mr Fluffy insulation has caused to the Canberra community over the last few decades.

The whole heartbreaking, ugly saga had an immense emotional impact on the families who had often lived in these mid-century houses for decades, if not a generation or two. The pile of keys instills a feeling of sadness for the number of individuals who had their family homes erased, and with them, childhood memories.

Alongside the keys are fragments of a mosaic artist Kim Grant had created in memory of her father, a sculpture made by artist John Topfer to reflect his family’s resilience through the 2003 bushfires, and a pen and ink drawing commissioned by Ermelindo Maculan of his demolished Duffy home.

Mr Fluffy, originally an innocuous business name, came to symbolise both sadness and fear. There is also a deep frustration that warnings were made as early as 1968 about the insulation’s dangers and weren’t heeded.

The exhibition features a newly created video piece (an excerpt can be watched here) with personal accounts from Canberra residents impacted by the decades-long saga. It’s a story of cold, post-war houses, cheap and effective asbestos imported from South Africa and, horrifyingly, children playing in the loose fill as Mr Fluffy went from house to house in Canberra suburbs offering his services.

Imagery, artworks, retrieved objects, background information and text stories amplify the sadness of Fluffy residents and explain the choices made by government at every level between 1968 and the current day.

In total, 1011 houses were demolished although a tiny handful remain in owners’ hands.

‘Mr Fluffy’: Our voices aims to refresh this uniquely ACT set of events, reminding audiences that the effects of loose fill asbestos insulation is ongoing for the community, and is told through the diverse experiences of those most impacted.

If you have the time I highly recommend visiting and having a look through the exhibit, it is difficult to understand the devastation Mr Fluffy has caused and this exhibit really helps you see things from others perspectives.

The Demolition of Wittenoom Begins

11th May 2023

Wittenoom is probably the most well-known asbestos mining town in Australia and is the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere, comprising of 120,000 acres (50,000 hectares).

Demolition of the ghost town Wittenoom has begun, with the West Australian government warning trespassers found at the former asbestos mining site could be prosecuted.

The former town’s final resident was evicted in mid-2022, and as of September that year, the town was classified as deserted and closed to the public. A Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage spokesperson confirmed all roads to the former town site and nearby gorge have been permanently closed to undertake the demolition. "Warning signs have been installed around the active worksite," the spokesperson said. "There is no visitor access to the area and trespassers may be subject to prosecution."  The spokesperson said all demolition material would be buried on site.

However, final clean-up plans for the former town are still undecided, the government is yet to commit to removing the remaining asbestos, likely due to the immense cost that would be associated which is estimated to be in the ten or hundreds of millions of dollars.

Former Wittenoom resident and retired WA Greens MP Robin Chapple said the government should bury the asbestos tailings in the old mine shafts and seal them shut. He said authorities needed to decide either way regarding a potential clean-up. Mr Chapple said he felt visitors would continue to visit the area via unofficial back roads, even if the town is gone and the roads are blocked. “If you keep on covering something up long enough, everybody will want to go and see it," he said. "You've actually got to fix the fundamental problem."

In a statement, a government spokesperson said a total clean-up of the land in and around Wittenoom was unlikely.


‘A Place of Reflection’. A forest shelter to be built at the National Arboretum to acknowledge the legacy of the Mr Fluffy crisis

21st November 2022

A forest shelter will be built at the National Arboretum to allow the more than 1000 families whose houses were torn down to remove the threat of the asbestos loose fill insulation. It will serve as a dedicated public place to commemorate the homes and the loved ones lost to the asbestos crises. Sustainable Building Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the shelter would form part of the healing process for thousands of Canberrans, who owned, lived in, or worked on a Mr Fluffy house — of which there were 1,029 across 56 suburbs.

In 2019, a community and expert reference group recommended a memorial, like that erected in memory of the 2003 Canberra bushfires, made up of plant cuttings that represented not only the homes lost by Mr Fluffy families, but their gardens too. Kathleen Read, who reluctantly sold her property to the ACT Government during the 2014 buyback scheme, said "Losing the garden was… it was hard, it was as bad as losing the house”. In her previous home, she had created her own backyard sanctuary for her family, affectionately called a "secret garden" by a neighbour, due to the deliberate planting around the fence line, all of which was lost when her home was demolished.

For Kathleen, the memorial is too little, too late. Kathleen has said the government's planned place of reflection at the arboretum means "absolutely nothing”. “To me, I think it's their way of accepting that, yes, this happened, but putting up this thing, this shelter … out the way," she said. During the buybacks, the ACT government stored the keys from over 1,000 of the houses, and Kathleen would prefer they be used as part of a display or installation. "Hang them in the Legislative Assembly chamber where it is a constant always reminder to them that people vote for them and they're meant to have some compassion about the way they treat people," she said.

But another former Fluffy owner, Jennifer Cameron, believes the place of reflection is a "nice idea". "I think the people who don't know anything about it of course will be interested, I suppose," she said. "People who are Mr Fluffy residents — who lost their homes — I just think it's somewhere that we can go and remember it, those who want to. I guess there are some who don't want to."

Further to this, the memorial could be a thought-provoking place, for those that are unaware of the severity of asbestos exposure and contamination, and could potentially prevent future exposures, by prompting people to check their homes prior to any renovations that could disturb asbestos containing materials within the home.

The ACT government is now seeking community feedback on the proposed messages and accompanying stories told through the forest shelter. "We do hope this will be seen as a really positive move in terms of really acknowledging the experience of thousands of people in Canberra," Ms Vassarotti said. "Telling people's stories in terms of what it meant to them and what we can learn from these kinds of experiences."

 

National Asbestos Awareness Month – Stop Playing Renovation Roulette

3rd November 2022

This year’s campaign is urging homeowners, renovators and tradies to respect asbestos because it’s not worth the risk. With at least one in three homes in Australia built before 1990 containing asbestos, residents are urged to always book a licensed professional to do an asbestos sample test before starting any renovation works. Tasks as simple as drilling a hole into a wall can pose a risk if there is asbestos present.

As the cost of living rises with interest rate hikes as well as a lack of tradespersons and rising cost of labour, more and more homeowners are resorting to DIY home improvements and are taking avoidable risks with asbestos and jeopardising their health and the health of others.

Clare Collins, Chair of the Asbestos Education Committee and director of the national campaign said, "Asbestos Awareness Month aims to reduce the incidences of avoidable asbestos exposure to prevent asbestos-related diseases by providing Australians with essential information to help save lives. And with health experts predicting a continued rise in third wave asbestos-related diseases as a result of exposure to asbestos fibres when renovating or maintaining old properties, the growing popularity of renovating and the current shortage of tradespersons; homeowners must learn to respect the serious risks posed by asbestos mismanagement to protect their health and the health of their loved ones," she said.

It is important to remember that asbestos was extensively used to manufacture over 3000 building and decorator products that can still be found in any type of home built or renovated before the 1990’s. If undisturbed and are well maintained in a stable, sealed condition, these products are considered unlikely to pose a health risk. However, if they’re disturbed during renovation or demolition the fibres released can be inhaled and lead to serious asbestos-related diseases in the future.

"Australia was among the highest consumers of asbestos products in the world so it's not surprising that a broad range of these potentially hazardous products are still commonly found in at least 1 in 3 Australian homes in some form or another," said Cherie Barber, long-term ambassador for the National Asbestos Awareness Campaign. "Because there is no known safe level of exposure to asbestos fibres, without knowing where asbestos might lurk in and around properties or knowing how to manage it safely, people could be playing 'Renovation Roulette', risking their health and the health of families and bystanders if they fail to respect asbestos and disturb these hazardous materials. We don't want people to take the 'she'll be right' approach and start ripping out old floor coverings, wall and floor tiles or undertaking any work or demolition without first checking to see if asbestos might be lurking in their home. Complacency poses the greatest risk of all so it’s vital people learn to respect asbestos as a real and present danger and learn how to manage it safely by visiting Australia's most comprehensive, trusted source of asbestos information, asbestosawareness.com.au." Ms Barber said.

Resources:

National Asbestos Awareness Month urges homeowners, renovators and tradies to respect asbestos because it’s not worth the risk!

Thinking of renovating? Never take the risk with asbestos

129-Year-Old Homestead Demolished Due to Mr Fluffy Contamination

29th March 2022

Deasland was an historic homestead in Gold Creek, it was commissioned by George Harcourt between 1890 and 1893. A six-room, single story timber homestead, which George occupied for a short time before his death in 1893.

The building persevered through over a century of wear, the development of the capital and a major bushfire in 1905, and in 1993 the homestead was heritage listed.

However, in the early 1970’s Mr Fluffy was used to insulate the homestead, leading to its’ inevitable demolition in early March. The most recent long-term owner, the MacKinnon family, bought the property in 1975, likely shortly after it had been contaminated with Mr Fluffy. The family has spent over 46 years maintaining and restoring the historic building. “It is a shame that you’ve got a rare house that had to be dealt with in this way” Mr MacKinnon said. The family are “Very, very disappointed about losing the house, yes – because of its significance both historically and for the family”.

Since the discovery of Mr Fluffy in the home, it has been environmentally cleaned twice in an attempt to remove the contamination. Meter readings were taken before it was earmarked for demolition which showed very low levels of asbestos, but it was still present, so the building was designated for demolition in 2014 along with over 1000 other homes in the ACT. The ACT’s Asbestos Response Taskforce decided demolition was the only enduring solution to the health risks of Mr Fluffy.

A year ago, the MacKinnon family sold the property to a private buyer, after rejecting the ACT government’s buyback offer. The new owner oversaw the demolition in early March. A sign fixed to the fencing around the property shows the current owners’ feelings on the situation. It reads: “Unfortunately this house has to be removed due to Mr Fluffy asbestos. It is not our preference to demolish the house. It is out of our control.”

A total of 25 residential heritage properties have had to be demolished due to Mr Fluffy contamination, of which Deasland is the oldest. Phil Robson, Collections Manager at the Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre, said Deasland’s destruction was a big loss. Mr Robson launched an objection with the minister due to the cultural history and ‘particularly fine example of Australian carpentry, craftsmanship and construction’ and suggested it be remediated to be used as a house museum with casual visitors. But the ACT Heritage Council had already advised it would not object to the demolition in the interests of the health and safety of occupants and visitors.

The Curran family, a prominent family who owned the house for a period in the 1940s and 50s appealed to the ACT government to quarantine a section for a small plaque to acknowledge the history of the homestead and possibly for broader Mr Fluffy commemorations, but said they were knocked back by the Asbestos Response Taskforce.

It is understood the current owners of the property plan to build a single dwelling family home which must conform with any heritage guidelines and its design be considered by the ACT Heritage Council.

 References:

129-year-old Deasland homestead demolished to rid Canberra of Mr Fluffy asbestos

Wikipedia - Deasland