The Police Minister has shot down any hope of a personal recovery of Hayden Marshall-Inman's body from Whakaari/White Island.
His brother, Mark Inman, wrote a letter asking the Prime Minister to allow the family to go to the island.
In the letter, he asked to receive an official pardon to retrieve his brother's body.
He said if the Government would not recover it, he would go himself.
"I am writing to ask for a pardon for my actions of a personal recovery," Inman wrote.
But Police Minister Stuart Nash says the island is not stable and he will not risk lives.
"We will not give anyone permission to go to the island," Nash said at a late-night press conference on Wednesday. "As mentioned, we need to understand the risks."
Nash said that Mark Law, a helicopter pilot who helped bring people off the island on Monday, will be helping with the recovery operation.
The recovery effort remains stalled, with GNS scientists saying there is increased seismic activity on the island. There is a chance there will another eruption of a similar size to Monday's last in the next 24 hours, scientists say.
On Wednesday, GNS said in hindsight the bodies could have been recovered on Tuesday.
