Labour leader Andrew Little makes Pike River re-entry bill an election promise

Wednesday, 18 January 2017

Labour leader Andrew Little promised families support at Pike River protest.

Labour leader Andrew Little has promised to table a bill in Parliament to help re-entry to the Pike River mine drift.

Little visited the access road where families have been protesting Solid Energy sealing the West Coast mine, in which 29 men were killed in a 2010 explosion, since November 12.

A Labour Government would get the families' experts and Solid Energy's experts together with the aim of coming up with a plan for re-entry, he said.

Pike River family member Sonya Rockhouse, left, West Coast Labour MP Damian O'Connor, victim's mother Anna Osborne, Labour leader Andrew Little and victim's father Bernie Monk.

'The only excuse the Government has given so far for not helping the families get re-entry to the drift of the mine is they are concerned about liability of the directors. Well, we can fix that through legislation.'

Little said he the proposed bill would take liability from the Solid Energy directors and allow experts to go into the drift 'to see what can be recovered'.

Pike River widow Anna Osborne and NZ First leader Winston Peters at Pike River mine gates.

Supporters of the Pike River mine families gather on Logburn Rd, where they have been blocking Solid Energy from accessing the mine.

* Pike River mine mother: We will not go away

* Solid Energy may be able to access Pike River

* Families of Pike River mine disaster victims release expert plan for safe re-entry

* Winston Peters says Pike River re-entry is bottom line to election deals

* Pike River families take control of mine access road vow to deny Solid Energy entry**

Environment Minister Nick Smith said the proposed legislation was 'hypocritical and unsafe'.

'It would be extraordinary to make an exemption from the Health and Safety at Work Act from the very place where 29 workers lost their lives from inadequate standards that triggered the new law.'

Smith said an exemption to workplace safety laws for the re-entry project would set a dangerous precedent.

'Either the mine can be safely entered under existing law, or it should not occur.'

But Little said the Government had promised the families it would do everything possible to get their men back.

'Let's work with the families and see what we can do. You've got your report, you've got your experts, the Government says they've got advice too.

'If the Government is genuine in fulfilling its promise why wouldn't they sit around the table and get the experts talking to each other and see what's possible?'

If the bill was rejected, he would put it into the private member's ballot.

Little said claims that as head of the miners' union at the time of the explosion he could have done more to ensure health and safety at the mine were 'extremist'.

'Our union and its members led a walk-out on health and safety grounds just weeks before the fatal explosion, that still wasn't enough . . . I absolutely stand by our track record on improving health and safety both at Pike River and in mining generally.'

Little congratulated the families for stopping the sealing of the mine so far.

Pike River widow Anna Osborne said West Coast contractors had refused to supply Solid Energy with products or labour to seal the drift.

'We realise the mine itself is too dangerous to enter so we don't want families to lose their loved ones going into the main body of the mine to recover the remains of our loved ones. We know the drift is safe, there is a credible plan and what we would like is our experts to meet with Solid Energy's experts to nut this out so we can get some resolve.'

Prime Minister Bill English previously said the safety laws were overhauled after Pike River disaster to ensure someone could be held accountable for safety lapses in future.

'In the end there's no way of avoiding legal responsibility for the safety of anyone who goes in the mine or might go in the mine. Our law allows for prosecution of people making a decision to do something that looks dangerous even before it is done.'

He said, after NZ First leader Winston Peters backed calls for re-entry, that he would take him more seriously if he was 'willing to become the director of a company and take legal responsibility'.

Green Party MP and workplace relations and safety spokesperson Denise Roche also visited the protesters at Pike River on Wednesday.