A closer look at Whakaari?

This may not have been an election promise anyone expected, but National leader Judith Collins has announced that, if she is prime minister after October, we will have a royal commission of inquiry into the Whakaari/ White Island disaster.

The announcement came nine months to the day after the volcanic explosion on the Bay of Plenty island that killed 21 people on December 9, 2019. Another 26 people were injured. Coincidentally or not, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern happened to be in nearby Whakatane meeting first responders to the disaster when Collins made her promise.

Coming at a time when political news seems to be roughly 90 per cent Covid-19 and 5 per cent tax policy, with the remaining 5 per cent fought over by the Greens, NZ First and smaller parties, a promise of a royal commission does not seem an obvious votegrabber. But Collins was careful to make the announcement without appearing to politicise the tragedy.

A school of thought has maintained that a royal commission is necessary. Ardern noted there are already investigations under way by WorkSafe and the police, on behalf of the coroner, which would create a risk of doubling up – or even tripling up. But Collins argues that the scale of the disaster, comparable to the Pike River Mine explosion that killed 29 people in 2010, deserves more. In that instance, there was both a royal commission and a WorkSafe investigation.

If recent history is a reliable guide, Collins may have a point. The WorkSafe investigation into Pike River became notorious for the dropping of charges against former mine boss Peter Whittall, who instead made a $3.41 million payment to survivors and family members that was condemned by some as ‘‘blood money’’ or ‘‘chequebook justice’’.

The WorkSafe investigation into the Whakaari/ White Island tragedy will cover health and safety issues around the operation of tourism on the island by the company White Island Tours. WorkSafe has until December to decide whether charges will be laid. It was reported in July that four managers, 16 inspectors and a number of specialist and support staff were working on the investigation.

The eruption killed two White Island Tours staff members, Hayden Marshall-Inman and Tipene Maangi, and other staff were injured. As well as the two investigations, Australian and US survivors and families are said to be bringing legal action against White Island Tours and cruise ship company Royal Caribbean.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, it became clear that there was confusion in the public mind over the regulation of adventure tourism activities such as tours of Whakaari/ White Island. While the Royal Commission into Pike River led to the introduction of stricter workplace regulations under the Health and Safety Act of 2015, changes to adventure activities were relatively minor.

We learned more recently that Government agency GNS released a ‘‘risk map’’ for the island a week before the explosion, and its scientists were restricted from going within 590 metres of the island’s volcanic vents, though not banned from the island as they had been during a period of volcanic activity in 2013. On that occasion, tour guides continued to take tourists to the crater lake. Such revelations have not filled the public with confidence about operations on the island.

We hope to learn by December whether Ardern is right that the current investigations are enough.

Collins was careful to make the announcement without appearing to politicise the tragedy.