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James Hardie Industries

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Fibre cement is a composite building and construction material, used mainly in roofing and facade products because of its strength and durability. One common use is in fiber cement siding on buildings.

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90-689: James Hardie Industries plc is a global building materials company and the largest global manufacturer of fibre cement products. Headquartered in Ireland, it is a dual-listed company , being listed on the Australian and New York Stock Exchanges . Its management team currently sits in Chicago, Illinois, United States. James Hardie was plagued by several asbestos -related scandals in the 20th century. James Hardie (27 July 1851 – 20 November 1920) emigrated to Australia in 1888 from Linlithgow , Scotland , and established

180-587: A Holocene hunter-gatherer sample ("Leang Panninge") from South Sulawesi , which shares high amounts of genetic drift with Aboriginal Australians and Papuans. This suggests that a population split from the common ancestor of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans. The sample also shows genetic affinity with East Asians and the Andamanese people of South Asia. The authors note that this hunter-gatherer sample can be modelled with ~50% Papuan-related ancestry and either with ~50% East Asian or Andamanese Onge ancestry, highlighting

270-565: A 60% shareholding in Hardie-Ferodo. It purchased the remaining 40% in August 1980. By the mid 1980s, James Hardie invented the modern day asbestos-free fibre cement material and had transitioned production entirely to fibre cement, a product consisting largely of Portland cement , sand, and wood fibres. In December 2001, the company relocated its headquarters to the Netherlands . While the move to

360-566: A business importing oils and animal hides. Andrew Reid, also from Linlithgow, came to join Hardie in Melbourne , and became a full partner in 1895. When Hardie retired in 1911, he sold his half of the business to Reid. The company was listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange in 1951. At the time, the company manufactured products out of asbestos cement sheet and other related building material. By

450-520: A corporate office in Chicago, Illinois, United States and operates more than a dozen manufacturing plants around the world. James Hardie was the naming rights sponsor of the Bathurst 500/1000 from 1968 until 1987 . It was shirt sponsor for the Parramatta Eels from 1981 until 1995. In 1988 James Hardie Industries made the largest donation ever made to an Australian public library when it gifted to

540-593: A gene flow from India to Australia: firstly, signs of South Asian components in Aboriginal Australian genomes, reported on the basis of genome-wide SNP data; and secondly, the existence of a Y chromosome (male) lineage, designated haplogroup C∗, with the most recent common ancestor about 5,000 years ago. The first type of evidence comes from a 2013 study by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology using large-scale genotyping data from

630-605: A lawsuit claiming Harditex cladding caused weathertightness problems in New Zealand homes. The judge found that bad building methods rather than James Hardie products caused the problems. Timeline of key events from the Devil's Dust TV program: Fibre cement The term cement originates from the Latin word caementum , which refers to chopped stone. Cement describes a substance which will react chemically with water and develop into

720-418: A material as hard as stone. In fibre cement there is a fibre reinforcement, which contributes to making the fibre-cement material even stronger. Together with a carefully planned production process, fibre cement makes it possible to develop strong and long lasting construction materials . Today fibre cement is considered as a material physically suited for construction products such as cladding and roofing. It

810-439: A parent company operating through subsidiaries since the 1930s. All asbestos operations, including the provision of compensation, were undertaken by James Hardie's subsidiaries, principally James Hardie and Coy and Hardie-Ferodo (later known as Jsekarb). Between 1995 and 2000, James Hardie (the parent company) began to remove the assets of these subsidiaries (since renamed Amaca and Amaba respectively), while leaving them with most of

900-731: A person as Indigenous. (Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct, despite extensive cultural exchange with some of the Aboriginal groups, and the Torres Strait Islands are mostly part of Queensland but have a separate governmental status .) Some Aboriginal people object to being labelled Indigenous , as an artificial and denialist term, because some non-Aboriginal people have referred to themselves as indigenous because they were born in Australia. Australian Indigenous people have beliefs unique to each mob ( tribe ) and have

990-588: A pool of Aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, island Southeast Asians, and Indians. It found that the New Guinea and Mamanwa (Philippines area) groups diverged from the Aboriginal about 36,000 years ago (there is supporting evidence that these populations are descended from migrants taking an early "southern route" out of Africa, before other groups in the area). Also the Indian and Australian populations mixed long before European contact, with this gene flow occurring during

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1080-615: A profound spiritual connection. Over the millennia, Aboriginal people developed complex trade networks, inter-cultural relationships, law and religions. Contemporary Aboriginal beliefs are a complex mixture, varying by region and individual across the continent. They are shaped by traditional beliefs, the disruption of colonisation, religions brought to the continent by Europeans, and contemporary issues. Traditional cultural beliefs are passed down and shared through dancing , stories , songlines , and art that collectively weave an ontology of modern daily life and ancient creation known as

1170-685: A range of breaches of the Corporations Act 2001 including breach of director's duties by failing to act with care and diligence. ASIC also undertook investigations into possible criminal charges against the company's executives but in September 2008 the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions decided there was insufficient evidence and charges were not pursued. In 2009, the Supreme Court of New South Wales found that directors had misled

1260-483: A single group. Aboriginal identity has changed over time and place, with family lineage, self-identification, and community acceptance all of varying importance. In the 2021 census , Indigenous Australians comprised 3.8% of Australia's population. Most Aboriginal people today speak English and live in cities. Some may use Aboriginal phrases and words in Australian Aboriginal English (which also has

1350-411: A spirit creates the earth then tells the humans to treat the animals and the earth in a way which is respectful to land. In Northern Territory this is commonly said to be a huge snake or snakes that weaved its way through the earth and sky making the mountains and oceans. But in other places the spirits who created the world are known as wandjina rain and water spirits. Major ancestral spirits include

1440-470: A strong connection to the land. Contemporary Indigenous Australian beliefs are a complex mixture, varying by region and individual across the continent. They are shaped by traditional beliefs, the disruption of colonisation, religions brought to the continent by Europeans, and contemporary issues. Traditional cultural beliefs are passed down and shared by dancing , stories , songlines and art —especially Papunya Tula (dot painting)—collectively telling

1530-427: A tangible influence of Aboriginal languages in the phonology and grammatical structure ). Many but not all also speak the various traditional languages of their clans and peoples. Aboriginal people, along with Torres Strait Islander people, have a number of severe health and economic deprivations in comparison with the wider Australian community. DNA studies have confirmed that "Aboriginal Australians are one of

1620-683: Is a main component of long-lasting building materials . The main application areas are roofing and cladding . The list below gives some common applications. Internal cladding: External cladding: Roofing: Along with the above applications, fibre cement boards can be used for a Mezzanine floor, Facade, External fins, Deck covering, Roof Underlay, Acoustix etc. Fibre-cement products have found wide usage in various sectors of construction: industrial, agricultural, domestic and residential buildings, mainly in roofing and cladding applications, for new constructions and refurbishment projects. Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are

1710-750: Is an increase in allele sharing between the Denisovan and Aboriginal Australian genomes, compared to other Eurasians or Africans. Examining DNA from a finger bone excavated in Siberia , researchers concluded that the Denisovans migrated from Siberia to tropical parts of Asia and that they interbred with modern humans in Southeast Asia 44,000 years BP, before Australia separated from New Guinea approximately 11,700 years BP. They contributed DNA to Aboriginal Australians and to present-day New Guineans and an indigenous tribe in

1800-471: Is based on the Aboriginal peoples' geographical isolation, with little or no interaction with outside cultures before some contact with Makassan fishermen and Dutch explorers up to 500 years ago. The Rasmussen study also found evidence that Aboriginal peoples carry some genes associated with the Denisovans (a species of human related to but distinct from Neanderthals ) of Asia; the study suggests that there

1890-480: Is no evidence for South Asian gene flow to Australia .... Despite Sahul being a single connected landmass until [8,000 years ago], different groups across Australia are nearly equally related to Papuans, and vice versa, and the two appear to have separated genetically already [about 30,000 years ago]." Aboriginal Australians possess inherited abilities to adapt to a wide range of environmental temperatures in various ways. A study in 1958 comparing cold adaptation in

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1980-453: Is only in the last two hundred years that they have been defined and started to self-identify as a single group, socio-politically. While some preferred the term Aborigine to Aboriginal in the past, as the latter was seen to have more directly discriminatory legal origins, use of the term Aborigine has declined in recent decades, as many consider the term an offensive and racist hangover from Australia's colonial era. The definition of

2070-528: Is primarily due to its function, performance and commercial value. Although fiber cement flat sheet may be classified under EN 12467:2012+A2:2018 in Category A1 (non-combustible - construction applications), A1Fl (non-combustible - flooring applications) or A2 (limited combustibility), some fiber cement sheet does not test as well. Additionally, some products may not have been tested by any accredited lab at all. Fibre-reinforced cement-products were invented in

2160-497: Is that the desert people are able to have a higher body temperature without accelerating the activity of the whole of the body, which can be especially detrimental in childhood diseases. This helps protect people to survive the side-effects of infection. Aboriginal people have lived for tens of thousands of years on the continent of Australia , through its various changes in landmass. The area within Australia 's borders today includes

2250-486: The CSIRO stressed the importance of taking a demand-driven approach to services in desert settlements, and concluded that "if top-down solutions continue to be imposed without appreciating the fundamental drivers of settlement in desert regions, then those solutions will continue to be partial, and ineffective in the long term." [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text by Anders Bergström et al. available under

2340-516: The Government of New South Wales . The findings were very critical of James Hardie and its management. Amongst other findings, it found that the actuarial reports commissioned by James Hardie which estimated liabilities at $ 286 million were inadequate because they used a financial model which made unfounded predictions on the value of investments held by Amaca and Amaba, the figures were subject to numerous unspecified conditions and they did not account for

2430-573: The Initial Upper Paleolithic . They are most closely related to other Oceanians , such as Melanesians . The Aboriginal Australians also show affinity to other Australasian populations, such as Negritos , as well as to East Asian peoples . Phylogenetic data suggests that an early initial eastern lineage (ENA) trifurcated somewhere in South Asia , and gave rise to Australasians (Oceanians), Ancient Ancestral South Indian (AASI), Andamanese and

2520-688: The Kimberley region in what is now Western Australia about 60,000 years ago. They migrated across the continent within 6,000 years. A 2018 study using archaeobotany dated evidence of continuous human habitation at Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen) in the Carnarvon Range in the Little Sandy Desert in WA from around 50,000 years ago. Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an Eastern Eurasian population wave during

2610-657: The Northern Territory to study their genetic makeup (which is not representative of all Aboriginal peoples in Australia). The study concluded that the Warlpiri are descended from ancient Asians whose DNA is still somewhat present in Southeastern Asian groups, although greatly diminished. The Warlpiri DNA lacks certain information found in modern Asian genomes, and carries information not found in other genomes. This reinforces

2700-453: The Pleistocene epoch and lived over large sections of the Australian continental shelf when the sea levels were lower. At that time, Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were part of the same landmass, known as Sahul . As sea levels rose, the people on the Australian mainland and nearby islands became increasingly isolated, some on Tasmania and some of the smaller offshore islands when

2790-611: The Rainbow Serpent , Baiame , Dirawong and Bunjil . Similarly, the Arrernte people of central Australia believed that humanity originated from great superhuman ancestors who brought the sun, wind and rain as a result of breaking through the surface of the Earth when waking from their slumber. Taken as a whole, Aboriginal Australians, along with Torres Strait Islander people, have a number of health and economic deprivations in comparison with

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2880-645: The State Library of Queensland the meticulously developed and hugely significant Australian Library of Fine Art which was given as a bicentennial gift to the nation. This collection became the James Hardie Library of Australian Fine Arts, and was part of the Arts and Rare Books Unit at the State Library. In 1978 the effects of pleural abnormalities and other asbestos -related diseases were beginning to show up in

2970-774: The 1970s and 1980s, when Aboriginal people moved to tiny remote settlements on traditional land, brought health benefits, but funding them proved expensive, training and employment opportunities were not provided in many cases, and support from governments dwindled in the 2000s, particularly in the era of the Howard government . Indigenous communities in remote Australia are often small, isolated towns with basic facilities, on traditionally owned land . These communities have between 20 and 300 inhabitants and are often closed to outsiders for cultural reasons. The long-term viability and resilience of Aboriginal communities in desert areas has been discussed by scholars and policy-makers. A 2007 report by

3060-412: The 1970s it became widely acknowledged that exposure to asbestos is harmful to health , being directly related to a number of life-threatening diseases including, asbestosis , pleural mesothelioma (lung) and peritoneal mesothelioma (abdomen). Consequently, asbestos use was progressively prohibited and safer fibre alternatives were developed, principally cellulose , to allow continued exploitation of

3150-655: The 19th century. Scholars believe that most Aboriginal Australians originated from Southeast Asia. If this is the case, Aboriginal Australians were among the first in the world to have completed sea voyages. A 2017 paper in Nature evaluated artefacts in Kakadu . Its authors concluded "Human occupation began around 65,000 years ago." A 2021 study by researchers at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage has mapped

3240-491: The Dreaming . Studies of Aboriginal groups' genetic makeup are ongoing, but evidence suggests that they have genetic inheritance from ancient Asian but not more modern peoples. They share some similarities with Papuans , but have been isolated from Southeast Asia for a very long time. They have a broadly shared, complex genetic history, but only in the last 200 years were they defined by others as, and started to self-identify as,

3330-599: The East/Southeast Asian lineage, including ancestors of the Native Americans . Papuans may have received approximately 2% of their geneflow from an earlier group (xOOA) as well, next to additional archaic admixture in the Sahul region. Aboriginal people are genetically most similar to the indigenous populations of Papua New Guinea , and more distantly related to groups from East Indonesia. They are more distinct from

3420-864: The Holocene ( c. 4,200 years ago). The researchers had two theories for this: either some Indians had contact with people in Indonesia who eventually transferred those Indian genes to Aboriginal Australians, or a group of Indians migrated from India to Australia and intermingled with the locals directly. However, a 2016 study in Current Biology by Anders Bergström et al. excluded the Y chromosome as providing evidence for recent gene flow from India into Australia. The study authors sequenced 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes using recent advances in gene sequencing technology. They investigated their divergence times from Y chromosomes in other continents, including comparing

3510-543: The NSW Aboriginal Legal Service taking an active part in actions against the company. James Hardie and its subsidiaries had been providing compensation for victims of its operations since the 1980s. Though some earlier claims had arisen, the proliferation of cases from the 1980s onwards forced James Hardie to acknowledge that it had known asbestos to be dangerous. James Hardie nonetheless maintained that it had done everything possible to protect workers. In 1978

3600-575: The Netherlands for what it claimed were significant tax advantages for the company and its shareholders. To make this move, the company had to assure Australian courts (as it was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange ) that the MRCF would be able to meet future liabilities. The courts were assured of this and that more money would be made available to its Australian asbestos victims through

3690-779: The Netherlands resulted in tax savings of $ 86 million over seven years, in 2009 the Australian Taxation Office issued an amended assessment for $ 172 million plus interest and penalties. James Hardie successfully appealed the assessment. Also in 2009, the US Internal Revenue Service alleged that James Hardie had not been in compliance with the US-Dutch treaty since it had been implemented in 2006 and claimed $ US37 million in unpaid taxes plus $ US10 million in interest and penalties. In 2010 James Hardie moved its corporate domicile to Ireland. James Hardie currently operates

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3780-849: The Northern, Southern and Central cultural areas. The Northern and Southern areas, having richer natural marine and woodland resources, were more densely populated than the Central area. There are various other names from Australian Aboriginal languages commonly used to identify groups based on geography , known as demonyms , including: Other group names are based on the language group or specific dialect spoken . These also coincide with geographical regions of varying sizes. A few examples are: However, these lists are neither exhaustive nor definitive, and there are overlaps. Different approaches have been taken by non-Aboriginal scholars in trying to understand and define Aboriginal culture and societies, some focusing on

3870-759: The Philippines known as Mamanwa . This study confirms Aboriginal Australians as one of the oldest living populations in the world. They are possibly the oldest outside Africa, and they may have the oldest continuous culture on the planet. A 2016 study at the University of Cambridge suggests that it was about 50,000 years ago that these peoples reached Sahul (the supercontinent consisting of present-day Australia and its islands and New Guinea ). The sea levels rose and isolated Australia about 10,000 years ago, but Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from each other genetically earlier, about 37,000 years BP, possibly because

3960-638: The United States signing a new trade agreement with the Netherlands in 2006. Shortly after the move, an actuarial report found that James Hardie asbestos liabilities were likely to reach $ 574 million. The MRCF sought extra funding from James Hardie and was offered $ 18 million in assets, an offer the MRCF rejected. The estimate of asbestos liabilities was promptly revised to $ 752 million in 2002 and then $ 1.58 billion in 2003. The funding shortfall became of increasing concern in 2004 as it became clear that eligible victims would miss out on receiving compensation after it

4050-444: The ancient people expanded and differentiated into distinct groups, each with its own language and culture. More than 400 distinct Australian Aboriginal peoples have been identified, distinguished by names designating their ancestral languages, dialects, or distinctive speech patterns. According to noted anthropologist , archaeologist and sociologist Harry Lourandos , historically, these groups lived in three main cultural areas,

4140-621: The asbestos liabilities of the James Hardie group. In 2001 these two companies were separated from James Hardie and acquired by the Medical Research and Compensation Foundation (MRCF) which was essentially created in order to act as an administrator for Hardie's asbestos liabilities. Then CEO of James Hardie, Peter McDonald, made public announcements emphasising that the MRCF had sufficient funds to meet all future claims and that James Hardie would not give it any further substantial funds. Indeed,

4230-426: The company based on refusing to handle James Hardie products. Following the results of the inquiry, James Hardie entered into negotiations with governments and trade unions in an effort to establish some sort of compensation system for eligible victims of James Hardie's products. In December 2004, James Hardie agreed to pay compensation to the victims of its products through a voluntary compensation fund. The details of

4320-430: The company began putting warning labels on its products explaining that inhalation of the dust could result in cancer. In March 1987 James Hardie ceased all asbestos manufacturing activities. As concern grew about the serious adverse health effects of asbestos, in the mid-1980s James Hardie developed an asbestos-free fibre cement technology, without the dangers associated with asbestos. James Hardie had been structured as

4410-547: The contributions of James Hardie into the voluntary fund tax deductible, and had granted the voluntary fund tax-exempt status, that James Hardie finalised the compensation deal. There was immense pressure on the Federal Government from state governments, union leaders and victims to remove the tax problem. The final step in giving the voluntary fund a legal structure was approval of the scheme by James Hardie shareholders. In February 2007, 99.6% of shareholders voted in favour of

4500-511: The deep split between Leang Panninge and Aboriginal/Papuans. Mallick et al. 2016 and Mark Lipson et al. 2017 study found the bifurcation of Eastern Eurasians and Western Eurasians dates to least 45,000 years ago, with indigenous Australians nested inside the Eastern Eurasian clade. Two genetic studies by Larena et al. 2021 found that Philippines Negrito people split from the common ancestor of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans before

4590-497: The desert-dwelling Pitjantjatjara people compared with a group of European people showed that the cooling adaptation of the Aboriginal group differed from that of the white people, and that they were able to sleep more soundly through a cold desert night. A 2014 Cambridge University study found that a beneficial mutation in two genes which regulate thyroxine , a hormone involved in regulating body metabolism , helps to regulate body temperature in response to fever. The effect of this

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4680-402: The effect of separating Amaca and Amaba from James Hardie. However, the inquiry found that James Hardie was under no legal obligation to provide compensation. Despite this finding, there was immense political and social pressure on James Hardie to negotiate a compensation deal; governments were boycotting James Hardie products and unions were threatening to instigate a global union movement against

4770-653: The fibre-cement products, and by long-term erosion of the material after it has been exposed to atmospheric weathering and wind , which causes the cement to degrade . Occupational health concerns and the protection of workers in the fibre-cement factories have finally led to the progressive elimination of asbestos from these products. Users of fibre cement boards who seek high performance and reliable green building materials should source products that have been tested by accredited laboratories and proven to be 100% free from asbestos or other harmful materials such as sepiolite , inorganic fibre or formaldehyde . Fibre cement

4860-560: The former mine workers. While other companies were involved in similar asbestos-related activities, most notably CSR , more than 50% of claims made to the Dust Diseases Tribunal of New South Wales in 2002 were brought against companies in the James Hardie group. There were protests against the companies' operations near the small Aboriginal Australian community of Baryulgil on the NSW North Coast , with Lyall Munro Snr and

4950-495: The fund were to be legally determined by June 2005 but progress was stalled and the company refused to disclose the date the deal would be finalised. Further conflicts between the company and the Federal Government over tax deductibility of donations to the voluntary fund saw finalisation of the deal further delayed. It was not until November 2006, after the federal government had created 'black hole' tax legislation, which made

5040-694: The haplogroup C chromosomes. They found a divergence time of about 54,100 years between the Sahul C chromosome and its closest relative C5, as well as about 54,300 years between haplogroups K*/M and their closest haplogroups R and Q. The deep divergence time of 50,000-plus years with the South Asian chromosome and "the fact that the Aboriginal Australian Cs share a more recent common ancestor with Papuan Cs" excludes any recent genetic contact. The 2016 study's authors concluded that, although this does not disprove

5130-401: The idea of ancient Aboriginal isolation. Genetic data extracted in 2011 by Morten Rasmussen et al., who took a DNA sample from an early-20th-century lock of an Aboriginal person's hair, found that the Aboriginal ancestors probably migrated through South Asia and Maritime Southeast Asia , into Australia, where they stayed. As a result, outside of Africa, the Aboriginal peoples have occupied

5220-653: The increased suicide rate, many researchers have suggested that the inclusion of more cultural aspects into suicide prevention programs would help to combat mental health issues within the community. Past studies have found that many indigenous leaders and community members, do in fact, want more culturally-aware health care programs. Similarly, culturally-relative programs targeting indigenous youth have actively challenged suicide ideation among younger indigenous populations, with many social and emotional wellbeing programs using cultural information to provide coping mechanisms and improving mental health. The outstation movement of

5310-506: The indigenous populations of Borneo and Malaysia , sharing drift with them than compared to the groups from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. This indicates that populations in Australia were isolated for a long time from the rest of Southeast Asia. They remained untouched by migrations and population expansions into that area, which can be explained by the Wallace line . In a 2001 study, blood samples were collected from some Warlpiri people in

5400-566: The islands of Tasmania , K'gari (previously Fraser Island) , Hinchinbrook Island , the Tiwi Islands , Kangaroo Island and Groote Eylandt . Indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, however, are not Aboriginal. In the 2021 census , people who self-identified on the census form as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin totalled 812,728 out of a total of 25,422,788 Australians, equating to 3.2% of Australia's population and an increase of 163,557 people, or 25.2%, since

5490-410: The issue of partly paid shares to MRCF obliging the new Dutch parent company to meet a call for funds if it were needed. The value of the call at the time was $ 1.9 billion. The move to the Netherlands therefore proceeded. However, the tax benefits which James Hardie expected to receive as a result from its move did not eventuate following the revision of tax laws in the United States in 2001 and later with

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5580-450: The land was inundated at the start of the Holocene , the inter-glacial period that started about 11,700 years ago. Scholars of this ancient history believe that it would have been difficult for Aboriginal people to have originated purely from mainland Asia. Not enough people would have migrated to Australia and surrounding islands to fulfill the beginning of the size of the population seen in

5670-406: The last 10,000 years it may have occurred—newer analytical techniques have the potential to address such questions. Bergstrom's 2018 doctoral thesis looking at the population of Sahul suggests that other than relatively recent admixture, the populations of the region appear to have been genetically independent from the rest of the world since their divergence about 50,000 years ago. He writes "There

5760-475: The late 19th century by the Austrian Ludwig Hatschek . He mixed 90% cement and 10% asbestos fibres with water and ran it through a cardboard machine, forming strong thin sheets. Originally, the reinforcing fibres were of asbestos and the material was commonly used as siding in house buildings due to its low cost, fire-resistance , water tightness, light weight, and other useful properties. In

5850-518: The latter two diverged from each other, but after their common ancestor diverged from the ancestor of East Asian peoples . The dingo reached Australia about 4,000 years ago. Near that time, there were changes in language (with the Pama-Nyungan language family spreading over most of the mainland), and in stone tool technology. Smaller tools were used. Human contact has thus been inferred, and genetic data of two kinds have been proposed to support

5940-496: The likely migration routes of the peoples as they moved across the Australian continent to its southern reaches and what is now Tasmania , then part of the mainland. The modelling is based on data from archaeologists , anthropologists , ecologists , geneticists , climatologists , geomorphologists , and hydrologists . It is intended to compare this data with the oral histories of Aboriginal peoples, including Dreaming stories, Australian rock art , and linguistic features of

6030-423: The many Aboriginal languages which reveal how the peoples developed separately. The routes, dubbed "superhighways" by the authors, are similar to current highways and stock routes in Australia. Lynette Russell of Monash University believes that the new model is a starting point for collaboration with Aboriginal people to help reveal their history. The new models suggest that the first people may have landed in

6120-403: The micro-level (tribe, clan, etc.), and others on shared languages and cultural practices spread over large regions defined by ecological factors. Anthropologists have encountered many difficulties in trying to define what constitutes an Aboriginal people/community/group/tribe, let alone naming them. Knowledge of pre-colonial Aboriginal cultures and societal groupings is still largely dependent on

6210-651: The middle of the twentieth century, James Hardie had become the largest manufacturer and distributor of building products , insulation , pipes and brake linings containing asbestos. In Australia, it operated asbestos plants in New South Wales , Queensland , South Australia , Victoria and Western Australia . Working with the products containing asbestos – including asbestos cement – caused people to develop various pleural abnormalities such as asbestosis and malignant mesothelioma . In 1961, it merged its brake lining division with Turner & Newall 's Ferodo, taking

6300-410: The net assets of the MRCF were $ 293 million, mostly in real estate and loans, and exceeded the 'best estimate' of $ 286 million in liabilities which had been estimated in an actuarial report commissioned by James Hardie. The Jackson Report found that this 'best estimate' was 'wildly optimistic' and the estimates of future liabilities was 'far too low'. After this separation, James Hardie moved offshore to

6390-411: The observers' interpretations, which were filtered through colonial ways of viewing societies. Some Aboriginal peoples identify as one of several saltwater, freshwater, rainforest or desert peoples . The term Aboriginal Australians includes many distinct peoples who have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years. These peoples have a broadly shared, though complex, genetic history, but it

6480-418: The oldest continuous cultures in the world, although this is disputed. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, the Aboriginal people consisted of complex cultural societies with more than 250 languages and varying degrees of technology and settlements. Languages (or dialects) and language-associated groups of people are connected with stretches of territory known as "Country", with which they have

6570-633: The oldest living populations in the world, certainly the oldest outside of Africa." Their ancestors left the African continent 75,000 years ago. They may have the oldest continuous culture on earth. In Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory , oral histories comprising complex narratives have been passed down by Yolngu people through hundreds of generations. The Aboriginal rock art , dated by modern techniques, shows that their culture has continued from ancient times. The ancestors of present-day Aboriginal Australian people migrated from Southeast Asia by sea during

6660-474: The original 250–400 Aboriginal languages (more than 250 languages and about 800 dialectal varieties on the continent) are endangered or extinct, although some efforts are being made at language revival for some. As of 2016, only 13 traditional Indigenous languages were still being acquired by children, and about another 100 spoken by older generations only. Dispersing across the Australian continent over time,

6750-420: The other studies had utilised complete Y chromosome sequencing, which has the highest precision. For example, use of a ten Y STRs method has been shown to massively underestimate divergence times. Gene flow across the island-dotted 150-kilometre-wide (93 mi) Torres Strait, is both geographically plausible and demonstrated by the data, although at this point it could not be determined from this study when within

6840-440: The presence of any Holocene gene flow or non-genetic influences from South Asia at that time, and the appearance of the dingo does provide strong evidence for external contacts, the evidence overall is consistent with a complete lack of gene flow, and points to indigenous origins for the technological and linguistic changes. They attributed the disparity between their results and previous findings to improvements in technology; none of

6930-414: The previous census in 2016. Reasons for the increase were broadly as follows: Most Aboriginal people speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Aboriginal languages in the phonology and grammatical structure ). Some Aboriginal people, especially those living in remote areas, are multi-lingual. Many of

7020-487: The remaining land bridge was impassable. This isolation makes the Aboriginal people the world's oldest culture. The study also found evidence of an unknown hominin group, distantly related to Denisovans, with whom the Aboriginal and Papuan ancestors must have interbred, leaving a trace of about 4% in most Aboriginal Australians' genome. There is, however, increased genetic diversity among Aboriginal Australians based on geographical distribution. Carlhoff et al. 2021 analysed

7110-564: The ruling in the High Court of Australia in October 2011. In May 2012 the High Court upheld the 2009 New South Wales court decision and found that seven former James Hardie non-executive directors did mislead the stock exchange over the asbestos victims compensation fund. In August 2019, Mathew Werfel, a DIY handyman from Adelaide , won $ 3 million in a compensation case against James Hardie. Werfel

7200-406: The same territory continuously longer than any other human populations. These findings suggest that modern Aboriginal Australians are the direct descendants of the eastern wave, who left Africa up to 75,000 years ago. This finding is compatible with earlier archaeological finds of human remains near Lake Mungo that date to approximately 40,000 years ago. The idea of the "oldest continuous culture"

7290-530: The scheme and it began operating days later. After the inquiry in 2004, prosecutors were considering bringing civil and criminal charges against the CEO and other senior executives for making fraudulent statements as to the liquidity of the MRCF. In February 2007 every member of the 2001 board and some members of senior management were charged by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) with

7380-526: The smaller offshore islands and Tasmania when the land was inundated at the start of the Holocene inter-glacial period , about 11,700 years ago. Despite this, Aboriginal people maintained extensive networks within the continent and certain groups maintained relationships with Torres Strait Islanders and the Makassar people of modern-day Indonesia. Aboriginal Australians have a wide variety of cultural practices and beliefs that some scientists believe make up

7470-522: The stock exchange in relation to James Hardie's ability to fund claims. They were also banned from serving as board members for five years. Former chief executive Peter Macdonald was banned for 15 years and fined $ 350,000 for his role in forming the MRCF and publicising it. The former directors, excepting Macdonald, appealed and the New South Wales Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the ruling against these directors in 2010. ASIC appealed against

7560-572: The story of creation known as The Dreamtime . Additionally, traditional healers were also custodians of important Dreaming stories as well as their medical roles (for example the Ngangkari in the Western desert ). Some core structures and themes are shared across the continent with details and additional elements varying between language and cultural groups. For example, in The Dreamtime of most regions,

7650-409: The term Aboriginal has changed over time and place, with the importance of family lineage, self-identification and community acceptance all being of varying importance. The term Indigenous Australians refers to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the term is conventionally only used when both groups are included in the topic being addressed, or by self-identification by

7740-465: The various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands . Humans first migrated to Australia at least 65,000 years ago, and over time formed as many as 500 language-based groups . In the past, Aboriginal people lived over large sections of the continental shelf . They were isolated on many of

7830-589: The widely acknowledged advantages of fibre cement. Fibre cement products were amongst the last materials available to have contained large quantities of asbestos. The asbestos fibres are intimately bound to the cement matrix and were considered to be immobilized in the cement and therefore less prone to be released in the environment, suspended in the air, and inhaled in the lung than in other materials or applications, such as thermal insulation or flocking , in which loose asbestos fibres were used. However, asbestos fibres are inevitably released during machining of

7920-517: The wider Australian community. Due to the aforementioned disadvantage, Aboriginal Australian communities experience a higher rate of suicide, as compared to non-indigenous communities. These issues stem from a variety of different causes unique to indigenous communities, such as historical trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, and decreased access to education and health care. Also, this problem largely affects indigenous youth, as many indigenous youth may feel disconnected from their culture. To combat

8010-419: Was exposed to asbestos while pulling down fences and renovating two homes between 1990 and 2000, and was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2017. James Hardie's products no longer contain asbestos, but Werfel's lawyer claimed the company should have done more to alert the public to the existence of asbestos in its old products, which were used in older homes. In 2021, James Hardie a New Zealand court dismissed

8100-452: Was revealed that in March 2003 James Hardie had cancelled the partly paid shares that were intended to be a safety net for the fund. In discussing the shortfall with the MRCF, James Hardie refused to accept further responsibility for the liabilities on the basis that the MRCF and James Hardie were separate legal entities. On 12 February 2004, a judicial inquiry into the matter was commissioned by

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