Bernie Banton: "Where was Hockey?"

Asbestos disease sufferer and activist Bernie Banton has attacked federal Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey's comments that the role of unions in the Australian workplace is over.

He said Mr Hockey's comment today was wrong and that, without the unions, asbestos victims would never have received justice.

"Where was Joe Hockey when we were fighting against James Hardie? He was nowhere to be seen.

"Without their support and their absolute total commitment to getting that deal done, we wouldn't have a deal for all those thousands of future victims.

"Without the union movement, we would have been getting absolutely diddly-squat for all those victims."

Mr Banton said another 53,000 people were going to be affected by asbestos-related disease by 2020, and 13,000 of those people would die due to mesothelioma.

"He says that unions are irrelevant? I think Joe Hockey is irrelevant, totally irrelevant to this election,'' he said.