James Hardie Former Subsidiaries (Winding up and Administration) Act 2005 (NSW)

James Hardie Former Subsidiaries (Winding up and Administration) Act 2005 No 105

An Act to facilitate funding by James Hardie Industries NV of compensation claims against certain former subsidiaries of the James Hardie corporate group for asbestos-related harm and to provide for the winding up of those former subsidiaries; and for other purposes.

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Name of Act This Act is the James Hardie Former Subsidiaries (Winding up and Administration) Act 2005.

2 Commencement (1) This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation, except as provided by this section. (2) Part 2 is taken to have commenced on the day on which the Bill for this Act was first introduced into Parliament. (3) Clause 3 of Schedule 1 commences on the date of assent to this Act.

Note— Clause 3 of Schedule 1 provides that any trust fund established as referred to in section 8 during or after the introduction day but before the assent day is taken to have been validly established for the purposes of the law of the State. (4) The provisions of Part 3 of Schedule 1 commence on the date of assent to the James Hardie Former Subsidiaries (Winding up and Administration) Amendment (Trust Funds) Act 2006.

3 Principal objects of Act (1) The principal objects of this Act are as follows— (a) to set up a State scheme for the winding up and other external administration over an extended period of certain companies that were formerly within the James Hardie corporate group, (b) to ensure that not only present, but also future, liabilities of those companies in respect of personal injury or death of persons arising from exposure to any asbestos or asbestos products that were mined, manufactured, sold, distributed or used by those companies are dealt with— (i) in accordance with the Final Funding Agreement, and (ii) so that preference is given to those claims over other claims which are deferred to the future, and (iii) in a manner that recognises that exposure to such asbestos or asbestos products, or personal injury or death arising from such exposure, may occur for an extended period into the future. (2) To achieve the objects set out in subsection (1), this Act displaces certain provisions of the Corporations Act and includes provisions for the establishment of a trust fund and the administration of the companies concerned during the winding up periods for the companies that are apposite to the unique circumstances of the winding up and administration of the companies.