"In the end, as in all great cover-ups, it was the bits of paper that brought them down - documents, thousands of pages of them, which had inexplicably escaped the shredder and provided incontestable proof that CSR knew all along that what it was doing at Wittenoom would result in a disaster; documents proving that for 20 years the company had been told over and over again by government inspectors that the levels of dust in that miserable mine were dangerously high; documents detailing in the clearest and most unmistakable terms that the company had been warned that its men were sick and dying - and did too little, to late to save them." Pg 42

"Here is file number 255/48 of the Public Health Department, that handwritten letter from young Dr Saint, warning that Wittenoom would produce the richest and most lethal crop of cases of asbestosis in the worlds literature. Pg44

"But here, also, is the key to why nothing was done as a result of his warning, when it finally percolated through the system and finished on the desk of the Minister for Mines. Remember, this was 1948 when there was still a chance of saving most of the 2000 lives that would be lost as a result of Wittenoom. In the margin of the letter, some anonymous civil servant has written that Dr Saint was misinformed and that there was no need for action" Pg44

"Even the air across the road, above the lawn in front of the staff offices, had dust readings that would have been illegal down a mine, Even before he looked at the X-rays, Dr McNulty knew what he was going to find. Like Dr Saint a decade earlier, he knew there was no way men could work in conditions like this and not get sick. The first case of asbestosis - poor old Ian Dignam - had occurred in 1946, although it was not conclusively diagnosed until much later" Pg46

"Just remember for now that, back in 1959, Dr Jim McNulty told CSRs managers to stop allowing the tailings to be dumped around the town - and they ignored him." Pg47

"What the fuck is going on here? Heres a roomful of people who are dying, and no ones doing anything about it." - Wittenoom victims lawyer Peter Gordon. Pg103

"...having regard to the weight of uncontradicted evidence of information concerning the risks to which its employees were exposed to the mill and mine... I consider that a strong case supporting the finding of recklessness - indeed of continuing, conscious and contumelious disregard by the defendant [Midalco] for the plaintiffs [Klaus Rabenaults] right to be free from risking injury or disease - was made out..." Pg124

"If the bullet takes 20 years to kill you, its not called murder, its called business." - US asbestos author Paul Brodeur. Pg163

First century AD: Roman historian Pliny notes that slaves weaving asbestos cloth sicken and die. Describes the use of respirators made from animal bladders.

1898: British factory safety inspectors express concern about the evil effects of asbestos dust.

1906: British Parliamentary Commission confirms first cases os asbestos deaths in factories, recommends better ventilation and other safety measures.

1911: Royal Commission into working conditions in gold mines in Australia reveals widespread lung disease. Ventilation laws introduced.

1918: Prudential Insurance Company in the US produces an actuarial study showing premature death in asbestos industry. Other companies begin increasing premiums and refusing insurance.

1926: First successful claim for compensation by a sick asbestos worker in Massachusetts Industrial Accidents Board. Over the following three years several hundred further claims filed.

1927: Asbestosis given its name.

1929: Johns Manville Corporation, the worlds largest asbestos miner/manufacturer served with 11 writs by asbestos victims. Claims settled out of court with secrecy orders.

Metropolitan Life Insurance company in the US finds that half the men working at Johns Manville and Raybestos asbestos plants for more that three years develop lung disease.

1930: British Home Office survey finds widespread asbestos disease in UK factories.

1935: Inspector of Factories and Shops in Western Australia reports on the effect of asbestos dust on the lungs of workers in the James Hardie factory in Perth.

1936: Lang Hancock discovers the Wittenoom blue asbestos (crocidolite) deposits and later begins pick and shovel mining.

1938: CSR Ltd sends senior executive M.G. King to the US, Canada, South Africa and Europe to study asbestos mining and manufacturing. It is the start of regular contact between CSR and Johns Manville, including further overseas trips in 1947 and 1952.

US adopts a safe dust limit of 176 particles of asbestos per cubic centimetre in the workplace.

German researches identify six cancer deaths among asbestos textile workers. Later animal studies confirm asbestos dust kills mice.

1939: Western Australian Commissioner of Public Health and Chief Inspector of Factories find respiratory disorders among James Hardie workers.

1940:Hancock begins mining at Wittenoom. Plant opens in 1943, and CSR takes over in 1948.

1943: Saranac laboratory in New York confirms the link between asbestos and cancer. John Manville suppresses the report

A report on an asbestos mill at Zeehan in Tasmania (owned and operated by CSR subsidiary) says that asbestos dust is a health hazard, and discusses methods of eliminating it.

1944: First warning of asbestos dust at Wittenoom - the WA Assistant State Mining Engineer reports on the dangers of the dust being generated.

Mines inspector Adams reports on the dust menace at Wittenoom and discusses the need to reduce dust levels.

1946: Known asbestos death toll reaches 235 in Britain, 16 in France, 30 in Italy. Wittenoom mine manager writes to head office about first known asbestosis case - a man named Dignam.

Mines Department inspector Adams describes dust conditions at Wittenoom as terrific.

1948: Dr Eric Saint tells Wittenoom mine management that asbestos is extremely dangerous, and that men exposed would contract chest disease inside six months. He writes to the Public Health Department in Perth that the mine will produce the greatest crop of asbestosis the world has ever seen.

Over the following three years, dust levels at the mine an mill are regularly monitored at six to eight times safe levels. Further warnings are given to mine management. No improvement in conditions is noted.

1950: WA Commissioner for Public Health reports to his Minister that Asbestos dust, if inhaled, constitutes a very grave risk and is, if anything, worse that silicosis.

State Mining Engineer reports insufficient attention to safety regulations and ventilation at Wittenoom.

1951: WA has adopted a safe dust limit of 176 particles per cc. Wittenoom readings continually off the scale at 1000 particles. Mines and Health departments take no action...apart from issuing further warnings.

Commissioner for Public Health writes to the Under Secretary for Mines that, The hazard from asbestos is considerably greater than that from silicawe have reason to believe that attention to this aspect of mining operations at Wittenoom has been inadequate in the past

1954: Mines Inspectors Ibbotson describes conditions at Wittenoom as a disgrace. The following year he threatens to close the mine.

1955: Dr Richard Doll in the UK produces the most comprehensive survey to date linking asbestos dust with lung disease.

1959: WA Health Department official Dr James McNulty discovers six cases of lung damage among Wittenoom workers. He warns the mine manager, and writes the first of a series of warnings.