Mine decision a victory for justice
The decision to re-enter the Pike River Mine in early 2019 has been a long time coming and does not have universal public support. Some see it as merely a triumph of public relations and emotion, or of election promises over tough realism.
Others have asked questions about the proposed $36 million budget and suggested better ways of spending public money.
But they are arguably a minority voice. While it is clear that a lot is at stake for a Government that made a commitment to the Pike River families – and particularly for Pike River Re-entry Minister Andrew Little, who has campaigned so vigorously – most New Zealanders will be both sympathetic to the suffering of those family members who support re-entry and will also see the value of answering questions about a disaster that killed 29 men on the West
Coast eight years ago.
A crucial detail in Little’s discussions about Pike River is that the mine will be treated as a crime scene. Police Commissioner Mike Bush reiterated the point yesterday when he said he cannot rule out the possibility of manslaughter charges following the forensic investigation that will run in parallel with the retrieval of what remains of the 29 miners.
Pike River Recovery Agency chief executive Dave Gawn has previously said the forensic examination is the primary purpose of the reentry. Finding human remains is ‘‘less likely’’, as he told Newsroom in August.
Those who argue that the grieving families should accept their losses and move on are therefore overlooking the fact that justice has been elusive in the Pike River case.
Work Safe laid 12 health and safety charges against former Pike River Mine boss Peter Whittall, and believed it had enough evidence to prosecute, but the case was dropped in 2013 after Whittall paid a $3.4m settlement to families and survivors. The Supreme Court has since ruled that the deal was an unlawful bargain designed to prevent prosecution.
Whittall’s apparent lack of remorse continues to anger and upset many who are outside the circle of Pike River families. When contacted in August in New South Wales, where he was running a rest home, Whittall said that he did not feel any guilt about the explosion and added that it was merely ‘‘human nature to blame someone’’.
His view suggests that sometimes unfortunate accidents happen that are beyond managerial control and oversight. It is to be hoped the forensic examination of the Pike River Mine in 2019 will show whether or not Whittall is mistaken.
For the families who support re-entry, led by representatives Anna Osborne, Sonya Rockhouse and Bernie Monk, the announcement of the reentry speaks to a dogged determination that is both a tribute to the memory of lost family members and a wider commitment to truth over political and bureaucratic obfuscation.
As Dave Gawn has suggested, there is a good chance there will no bodies in the drift of the mine. If that happens, you can expect to hear a familiar chorus of voices calling the re-entry an expensive stunt. But it will be just as important to learn whether evidence has been gathered that can progress a criminal case and might even lead to the apportioning of blame that the doomed mine’s former manager seems so eager to minimise.
‘‘Most New Zealanders will see the value of answering questions about a disaster that killed 29 men.’’