The Federal Government expects a legal bill of at least $35 million for a wave of compensation damages claims from former waterside workers who contracted asbestos-related diseases. It has budgeted for $35 million for this financial year to meet the costs of damages claims before the courts.

Some $22 million has gone in emergency funding so the Stevedoring Industry Finance Committee can continue to pay compensation and legal costs. The wharfies contracted diseases such as mesothelioma from handling asbestos cargoes during the 1950s and 1960s.