Labour leader’s Pike Mine re-entry

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern’s campaign has taken her to the region renowned as the birthplace of the Labour Party where she was given the blessing of the families of those who died in the Pike River Mine explosion.

Ardern met with family members at the Pike River memorial on the West Coast to re-state her commitment to re-enter the mine in which 29 miners died following a series of explosions in 2010.

“After all this time, the least we can do is the right thing,” she told them.

In the rain at the memorial, Ardern told the families of her commitment for a re-entry into the mine and in the first 100 days of a Labour government to set up a Pike River Recovery Agency and appoint a minister charged with entering the mine.

Anna Osbourne, whose husband Milton was among those killed, said she was hoping for a change of government to ensure the re-entry went ahead.

“We’ve had lies, we’ve had broken promises, so I’m hoping for a change of government,” Osbourne said.

The National Government has refused to attempt a manned re-entry because its expert analysis said it would be too risky. That was disputed by the families who obtained their own expert analysis.

Families spokesman Bernie Monk also said Ardern had his support, saying while he did not expect Ardern to wave a magic wand and fix everything the families believed re-entry was safe.