Families get Pike road keys

The Government is moving forward with its promise to try to recover any remains of the 29 men who lost their lives in the Pike River explosion.

On Sunday, seven years on from the explosion, Andrew Little, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry, handed the keys to the mine access road to the Pike River families.

And on Monday, Little was to take his proposals on what the Pike River Re-entry Agency could look like to Cabinet. The LabourNZ First coalition has committed to entering Pike River but Little said he could not guarantee a manned re-entry.

The reports showed a manned re-entry was possible, he said.

However, if the Pike River Reentry Agency found a manned reentry to be too risky, the Government would not go ahead.

The families said if re-entry was deemed to be unsafe, that would not mean the Government had let them down.

‘‘We are the ones who placed safety at the top of our list of principles for re-entry and we are confident it can be done safely, and we have world-leading experts who believe it is the case.’’

The families said there was a chance the risk assessment would uncover something they did not already know, but they believed that was unlikely. ‘‘On a personal note – Andrew Little has been incredibly supportive of us and continues to be. He’s instructed officials to work close with us and they have.

‘‘We have had real say in the type of agency being created, and how it is run,’’ the families said.

The Government had given the families assurance they would be involved in the process, and there would be greater transparency around the decision-making process. They would visit Wellington again on Tuesday to work on the plan for how the agency would work. ‘‘Nothing in life is guaranteed, but if our experts are proved right – and we think they will be – then we will be in the drift and recovering remains and evidence within a year!’’

Family representatives met Little earlier this month, and have had two meetings with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, about the plan going forward. They also met Winston Peters, a long-time advocate for the families, during coalition discussions. They said they ‘‘100 per cent’’ believed the Government would stick to its commitment of re-entering the mine’s drift.

‘‘To date we have had a very positive experience, with our views taken into account, been listened to, and things changed because of our input.

‘‘Long may this sort of transparency continue because as family members we will not give up or go away until this job has been finished.’’

Stand with Pike family representative Sonya Rockhouse said the families and the Government were all on the same page.

Rockhouse, whose son Ben died in the mine, said Little could not give a guarantee of when a reentry would happen. But he has said it was likely to be by mid-next year. Gate ceremony At the gate opening ceremony, Pike widow Anna Osborne said she felt things were finally progressing. ‘‘And we might actually get a bit of truth, justice, and some closure for families.’’

Family representative Bernie Monk also thanked all those in New Zealand and around the world who had stood by the Pike River families. He paid his respects to late union stalwart Helen Kelly, who helped the families with their fight for re-entry before her death.

Speaking before handing over the keys, Little said things had changed for the Pike families.

The promise was always to go in and recover any remains, and find out more about what happened. ‘‘[The explosion] was totally preventable, and totally avoidable. It was a gross act of corporate negligence.’’

And they still didn’t have all the answers about what really happened, Little said.

On Sunday afternoon, the families were to attend a private memorial at the mine’s portal to mark the seven years since the explosion.