Heads should roll over the Pike River Mine disaster, Duncan Garner says after the Government confirmed a re-entry plan.
"We should all be ashamed," he told The AM Show on Thursday. But Garner said there's one person in particular that should be held accountable over the 2010 explosion: former Pike River Coal Ltd boss Peter Whittall.
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"He oversaw a mine that was under so much pressure to produce coal that he and his team turned a blind eye to the safety concerns," Garner said of Mr Whittall, who escaped charges under the Health and Safety Act when MBIE allowed him to instead pay $3.41 million to the two survivors and families of men who died.
The Supreme Court agreed with Pike River families last year that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) acted against the law when it "secretly bargained" to allow Mr Whittall to make a cash payment to avoid facing any charges for his part in the disaster.
While Mr Whittall cannot be re-charged under the Health and Safety law, Pike River Minister Andrew Little has said the police could still bring criminal charges against him.
A 2012 Royal Commission Report on the Pike River coal mine tragedy said the company's directors and executive managers paid insufficient attention to health and safety "and exposed the company's workers to unacceptable risk" in their drive to produce coal.
"The mine was new and the owner, Pike River Coal Ltd (Pike), had not completed the systems and infrastructure necessary to safely produce coal," the report says. "Its health and safety systems were inadequate."
"There were numerous warnings of a potential catastrophe at Pike River," it adds. " In the last 48 days before the explosion there were 21 reports of methane levels reaching explosive volumes, and 27 reports of lesser, but potentially dangerous volumes."
"[Mr Whittall] oversaw a mine that was under so much pressure to produce coal that he and his team turned a blind eye to the safety concerns," said Garner.
"Even on the morning of the blast, excessive methane levels were present but not addressed," he added, referring to the report's findings.
"In fact, in the 48 days prior to the blast, 48 single notifications of excessive gas levels were reported and not addressed - 21 of the 48 were warnings that reached explosive levels."
Garner said Mr Whittall should be "arrested based on the Royal Commission of Inquiry findings alone". He said the former Government should be ashamed, but "Whittall should be forced to face his day in court".
Pike River families lawyer Nigel Hampton QC says he's interested in what will be found in the mine after re-entry, telling The AM Show on Thursday evidence might be discovered that could enable prosecutions to be taken.
Police commissioner Mike Bush has confirmed that manslaughter charges are possible after evidence is collected in the Pike River re-entry.
"Accountability actually matters," said Garner, "especially when 29 people died."
Newshub.
