15 February 2008

Peter Leonard & asbestos ?

Join the conversation
28

I heard some distressing news from someone today on the subject of asbestos and the predicted rise in related diseases over the coming years. We got onto the names of some people affected and Peter Leonard’s name was mentioned. I was surprised by this and prompted for further details. The member of our group who brought up his name elaborated, stating she was an acquaintance of the family and a few months after retiring, Peter became somewhat ill. According to this person, he was diagnosed with an “asbestos related conditions“, likely caused by some home renovations years back and he has “around 3 months“. I grew up with Peter Leonard reading the news, and being beamed into your home every night they become a part of the family almost. I was wondering if anyone could confirm or deny this, hopefully the latter.

Join the conversation

28
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

rest in peace peter

Eyeball In A Quart Jar Of Snot11:55 pm 12 Aug 08

Unfortunately I can confirm that the story is true. He was diagnosed with mesathelioma at the start of the year.

Although the doctors had only given him a few months to live he’s doing much better than expected and will probably go on fighting this for a while. I saw him recently and he was in good spirits.

So, its been four weeks, and there still hasn’t been a confirmation or further reporting on any detail in this post…

According to Google at least, knowingly reporting a false occasion of death to family or in the media is a possible ground for a harassment case, and reporting it to a government agency results in a world of pain for the apparently deceased.

Any chance the story can be pulled?
And if Admins aren’t actively reading old threads, does the original poster want to email jazz@the-riotact.com ?

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler2:53 pm 20 Feb 08

Ha ha, yes.
Gen Y uses the term Dawg, so it has reportedly being added to the dictionary. There are also Wiki-dicionaries appearing that anyone can edit. There was a time when dawg in an essay would make you loose marks, it wan’t in the dictionary, now it is so you won’t I guess.

Holden Caulfield11:56 am 20 Feb 08

Eye sea what ewe mean. Although, I’m not shore yaw theory stands up to screw tinny. Butt wee shall sea how the fax of the matter transpire.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler11:32 am 20 Feb 08

Article the other day said people are no longer following dictionaries, but rather dictionaries are following people. Soon I will be correct.
For now, I stand corrected.

breaks news not brakes news.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler10:14 am 20 Feb 08

The person who said this is a credible source. They may be genuinely mistaken, but they wren’t making it up.
Laurie Oakes brakes news all the time that others don’t have, so does Crikey.

You know, this seems to be the only news item on this across the ENTIRE INTERWEB, and there has been no EMF broadcast coverage.

Do we have any kind of non-RiotACT, non-gossip confirmation or should we all tell Peter Leonard that V8 BErlina’s story here is the reason his wife started receiving all those flowers and comforting hugs?

Gungahlin Al9:56 am 18 Feb 08

In the late 80s I renovated my first house, involving a lot of hours on the orbital sander grinding wallpaper glue etc off the fibro. At the time James Hardie was advising that fibro didn’t use the type of asbestos that was carcinogenic (I think the story was white was OK, blue was bad) so I ‘knew” it was OK to do. I also did a lot of sawing of Super 6 panels to roof avairies as a kid.

Sort of stories people all over Australia have I guess.

Since then of course it has become known that all asbestos is bad news. And stories like this one just make you wonder whether there’s a little time bomb ticking away inside you…

Media’s keeping quiet on this until WIN makes it official. This is the first time it’s been mentioned in the public arena, but this rumour has been circulating around in the industry for a while now, as V8 said. Wish I could say it was just gossip, but for now the media will respect the privacy of Peter and his family.

Ah, so it’s not PS gossip it’s restaurant gossip. I agree, this thread is distasteful and should be nuked.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler2:31 am 17 Feb 08

If the consensus is so, then I would request that the admins remove this thread.

el ......VNBerlinaV812:45 am 17 Feb 08

Sad if it’s true.

Gotta agree with VicePope though, it’s not really any of our business.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler11:50 pm 16 Feb 08

P.S. discussion took place in a prominent Canberra restaurant at lunchtime. Not sure how many people outside our group heard it but I considered it to enter the public domain at that point.

I urge people to treat my post as speculation and to respect the privacy of Peter and Gwen and their family and friends whether or not this speculation is indeed true.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler11:37 pm 16 Feb 08

I just wanted to say that I spent a while pondering over whether to post this or not. It is rumor, hearsay if you will. In the end, I decided that given the number of people present when the person spoke of his condition while I was present, and the likely hood they may have and/or may still tell other people. Given I believe several RiotACT users have media backgrounds, I though this would be an appropriate place to confirm the rumour (and appeal to people to leave it at that) or confirm it’s untrue, therefore having the truth available to all.
Besides, my moral opinions do not decide what is posted on here, that’s for moderators to decide.

Bundah_Bloke10:37 pm 16 Feb 08

Do you have a publically accessible source abc to backup your assertion? or is this private information you base it on?

Can you confirm his doctor has advised him of only a further 3 months?

Meanwhile…

This is a true shame… Peter has always been a very friendly, polished, and generous man. I have many great memories of watching Peter on WIN News, and listening to him on Keynote Speakers. Wishing him all the very best for a speedy recovery.

the story, as you put it, is sadly 100% correct…. it is not speculation

If PL has it, that’s terribly sad – he appears to be a quiet and decent man. But it’s his business if he wants to share it with anybody, including relatives, friends, colleagues or the public at large. The fact that he used to be in the media does not make his health a matter of public interest.

Speculative stuff like this thread is damaging to his privacy.

Of course, if he doesn’t have it, that’s (a) an entirely good thing and (b) an indication that this kind of speculation is worse than stupid.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler8:42 pm 16 Feb 08

Ok. Just wondering about the “public service gossip”bit.Nothing to do with the public service, I’m not a PS nor was the person who told of the news.

Sheesh! Do I have to spell things out? The fact is that this story has not been confirmed by the mainstream media, either WIN, the ABC, The Canberra Times or Peter himself and until that happens we should treat this as pure speculation.

V8 Berlina with a three tier spoiler7:50 pm 16 Feb 08

don’t knowwhat our on about scumdorg.

The sad thing is even only a small amount of fibre can cause serious health issues. There are concerns for DIYers, students at schools where asbestos was removed in the 70s, installers and tradesman who may be exposed to this day. I know what my house is built of. I would caution those with older houses who may not know to be cautious, try to find out if they have asbestos and to take care when working if in doubt.

This sounds very much like public srevice gossip to me, the type of thing we used to talk about around the tea urn in Treasury years ago. I wouldn’t take it seriously until I’ve heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.

Bundah_Bloke2:09 pm 16 Feb 08

Does anyone know how much renovating he did over the years, and to what extent? I assume he must have handled fibroboard at some time as that’s the main source of asbestos in a residential house. Having only recently retired I assume he was a weekend type DIY renovator like many of us are. That’s quite frightening if he got this from just a casual contact, albeit possibility over a long time.

It was only in the last 5 years that the ACT Government has put out the word to the public to avoid via handling fibroboard via brochures, etc. With so many ex govies in Canberra using fibroboard I’ve seen plenty of DIYers drilling into the stuff, sanding it, tearing it up and throwing it on a heap out on the front lawn with the kids jumping all over it. This could be a ticking time bomb in years to come.

Sadly. it’s correct… Same kind that got bernie banton.

I do so very hope this is not true.

Please can someone confirm this is wrong!

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.