##### 



COMPANY STATEMENT
  
 For media enquiries please call Peter Baker on:  Tel: (02) 8274 5239  For analyst enquiries please call Steve Ashe on:  Tel: (02) 8274 5246 Mob: 0408 164 011.
   False claims against James Hardie
 Daily Telegraph
     Background
    1 of 2


Contact details follow




---



##### 



Media Enquiries:
  Telephone:
    
    61 2 8274 5239Email:
    
    media@jameshardie.com.auFacsimile:
    
    61 2 8274 5218
 Investor and Analyst Enquiries:
  Telephone:
    
    61 2 8274 5246Mobile:
    
    61 408 164 011Email:
    
    steve.ashe@jameshardie.com.auFacsimile:
    
    61 2 8274 5218
 www.jameshardie.com
 Disclaimer
 This company statement contains forward-looking statements. We may from time to time
make forward-looking statements in our periodic reports filed with or furnished to the United
States Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 20-F and 6-K, in our annual reports to
shareholders, in offering circulars and prospectuses, in media releases and other written
materials and in oral statements made by our officers, directors or employees to analysts,
institutional investors, representatives of the media and others. Examples of forward-looking
statements include:
 
    
    expectations about the timing and amount of payments to the Asbestos Injuries
Compensation Fund (AICF), a special purpose fund for the compensation of proven
asbestos-related personal injury and death claims;
    
    expectations with respect to the effect on our financial statements of those
payments;
    
    statements as to the possible consequences of proceedings brought against us and
certain of our former directors and officers by the Australian Securities &
Investments Commission;
    
    expectations that our credit facilities will be extended or renewed;
    
    projections of our operating results or financial condition;
    
    statements regarding our plans, objectives or goals, including those relating to
competition, acquisitions, dispositions and our products;
    
    statements about our future performance; and
    
    statements about product or environmental liabilities.
 Words such as believe, anticipate, plan, expect, intend, target, estimate,
project, predict, forecast, guideline, should, aim and similar expressions are
intended to identify forward-looking statements but are not the exclusive means of
identifying such statements.
 Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a
number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans,
objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in such forward-looking
statements. These factors, some of which are discussed under Risk Factors beginning on page
6 of our Form 20-F filed on 6 July 2007 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, include
but are not limited to: all matters relating to or arising out of the prior manufacture of
products that contained asbestos by current and former James Hardie subsidiaries; required
contributions to the AICF and the effect of foreign exchange on the amount recorded in our
financial statements as an asbestos provision; compliance with and changes in tax laws and
treatments; competition and product pricing in the markets in which we operate; the
consequences of product failures or defects; exposure to environmental, asbestos or other
legal proceedings; general economic and market conditions; the supply and cost of raw
materials; the success of our research and development efforts; our reliance on a small
number of product distributors; compliance with and changes in environmental and health and
safety laws; risks of conducting business internationally; compliance with and changes in
laws and regulations; and foreign exchange risks; the successful implementation of new
software systems; and the effect of natural disasters. We caution you that the foregoing list
and factors is not exhaustive and that other risks and uncertainties may cause actual results
to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made.
 2 of 2