Mr Fluffy asbestos: Chief Minister Katy Gallagher defends warnings given to households and builders

ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher has defended her record on alerting owners of houses with Mr Fluffy asbestos insulation about the deadly threat they faced from asbestos fibres.

More than 1,000 houses in Canberra and New South Wales had loose-fill asbestos pumped into the roof spaces by the Mr Fluffy company in the 1960s and 1970s.

Fairfax Media has obtained documents suggesting Mr Gallagher was warned on multiple occasions since 2005 about the ongoing risk from residual asbestos fibres despite a Commonwealth clean-up program 20 years ago.

Breathing in asbestos fibres can cause the lung cancer mesothelioma.

In February an ACT Government letter was sent to owners of former Mr Fluffy houses advising them to warn builders if renovations or extensions were undertaken.

Another letter was sent by the ACT Asbestos Taskforce via registered post in July to confirm all homeowners with former Mr Fluffy households had been notified of the risks.

Ms Gallagher said she acted on all advice she received in the past nine years.

"Whether you could say now we should have written every five years, you know, I would accept that," she said.

"Certainly on the information we have before us now but there was never any information written to me or provided to me that would certainly go to the heart of what we know now, which is the level of contamination that still exists in their homes that simply wasn't known."

Ms Gallagher said she would have taken a different approach around asbestos warnings based on the information available now.

"If I knew what I've got on my desk now, [back] in 2005, I think the Government response would have been very different but that just wasn't the case," she said.

"I was the Minister responsible for writing the first letter (that householders received) in the 13 years since the last letter.

"I think you can go back and with the benefit of hindsight have a look at what was done at the time and whether that was adequate with the knowledge that we know now, as opposed to the knowledge before government at the time."

Ms Gallagher said her Government had done more than any other jurisdiction to combat the asbestos threat.

Mr Fluffy homeowners alerted to expect demolish advice

Ms Gallagher stated advice from the taskforce suggested the demolition of Mr Fluffy homes was the best long-term solution.

"I've written a letter to householders in the last two days just to say that Cabinet has discussed the some advice from the taskforce in relation to this," she said.

"But Cabinet has also sought to get some financial implications paper being provided prior to making a final decision and that we're working as quickly as possible."

ACT Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson has backed moves to tear down hundreds of homes insulated with Mr Fluffy asbestos.

"Ultimately that is going to be the only answer if we are going to have a permanent resolution," he said.

"It is clear that attempts at remediation in the past have failed, and if we are going to get a resolution for the affected families, then the only result really that is viable is demolition."

The Canberra Liberals are also demanding a Board of Inquiry into the handling of the Mr Fluffy saga.