The treasurer should stop playing "political games" and grant James Hardie Industries the tax breaks it needs to finalise a deal to compensate asbestos disease sufferers, the federal opposition has said.
The company and the NSW government signed a landmark agreement providing an estimated $4.5 billion to compensate victims of asbestos related diseases for at least the next 40 years.
But a condition of the deal is that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) allow the compensation payments and fund to be tax deductible.
Treasurer Peter Costello has said James Hardie will not get any special consideration on the issue of tax.
ACTU secretary Greg Combet, asbestosis sufferer Bernie Banton and NSW Premier Morris Iemma, who were central to negotiating the hard-won deal, have all called on Mr Costello to grant James Hardie the tax concessions it says it needs.
Opposition treasury spokesman Wayne Swan said taxpayers would pay for the medical expenses of James Hardie asbestos victims if the deal did not go through.
"The workers of James Hardie, the government of NSW, the ACTU and the company have all sat down and worked out a fair compensation package," Mr Swan told reporters.
"We know one thing - this deal must go through because if it doesn't there will be a tremendous cost to the taxpayers of this country."
Mr Swan called on the treasurer to stop playing "political games" and sit down "in a spirit of goodwill" with those involved in the deal to work out an arrangement that meets the needs of all Australians as well as the workers who have been affected by James Hardie asbestos products.
"As usual, the only person out of step with the rest of the country is Peter Costello."
Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley urged Mr Costello to talk to the company.
But he could not guarantee a Labor government would grant the tax concessions being called for.
"The least they can do is sit down and a have a conversation with them and work out what they can do," Mr Beazley told ABC radio.
"I'm not saying at the end of the day you do it, but you could sit down and talk through that arrangement with them."
Asked whether Mr Combet could be recruited into the federal Labor Party, Mr Beazley said the union leader was a potential leader.
"He would not be grateful to me for any speculation on what his political future might be because that would be irrelevant in everything that he's doing now," he said.
"But would he be, as have been numerous ACTU leading figures ... a useful acquisition to the federal caucus, of course he would be.
"Would he be a potential Labor party leader? Of course he would be."
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