Exhibit 99.1

company statement

For media enquiries please contact James Rickards on
Tel: 61 2 8274 5304 or Mob: 0419 731 371.
For analyst enquiries please contact Steve Ashe on
Tel: 61 2 8274 5246 or Mob: 0408 164 011.

18 April 2006

Closure of Roofing Pilot Plant

James Hardie announced today that it will cease its market development initiatives for Artisan roofing and close its roofing pilot plant located in Fontana, California.

The company constructed a small-scale roofing manufacturing plant in 2003. Since then, it has been undertaking production and market trials of its new roofing product in Southern California to quantify the market potential of the new product.

The decision not to proceed with the roofing product was made after a review of market testing results concluded that greater shareholder value would be created by focussing on other fibre cement growth initiatives.

The closure of the roofing pilot plant will result in an impairment charge of US$13.4 million, and will be recorded in the 2006 fiscal year financial statements.

James Hardie’s Chief Executive Officer, Louis Gries said “We undertook a low-cost low-risk strategy with roofing and this has proved to be the correct approach. We have found that the costs of manufacture and potential market for the roofing product make it a less attractive investment for us than other fibre cement growth opportunities.”

END

Media Enquiries:

James Rickards
Telephone: 61 2 8274 5304
Mobile: 0419 731 371
Email: media@jameshardie.com.au
Facsimile: 61 2 8274 5218

Analyst Enquiries:

Steve Ashe
Vice President – Investor Relations
Telephone: 61 2 8274 5246
Mobile: 0408 164 011
Email: steve.ashe@jameshardie.com.au
Facsimile: 61 2 8274 5218

www.jameshardie.com

Disclaimer

This Company Statement contains forward-looking statements. James Hardie may from time to time make forward-looking statements in its periodic reports filed with or furnished to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 20-F and 6-K, in the annual reports to shareholders, in offering circulars and prospectuses, in media releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by the company’s officers, directors or employees to analysts, institutional investors, representatives of the media and others. Examples of forward-looking statements include:

• expectations that the conditions precedent to the Final Funding Agreement will be satisfied;

• expectations about payments to a special purpose fund for the compensation of proven asbestos-related personal injury and death claims;

• 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 7 July 2005 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 Australian subsidiaries; 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; foreign exchange risks; the successful implementation of new software systems; and the successful transition of our new senior management. We caution you that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive 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.