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Bill English has chance meeting with Pike River's Bernie Monk

Author
Newstalk ZB staff, NZN,
Publish Date
Tue, 13 Dec 2016, 11:55AM
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Bill English has chance meeting with Pike River's Bernie Monk

Author
Newstalk ZB staff, NZN,
Publish Date
Tue, 13 Dec 2016, 11:55AM

UPDATED 6.06pm Prime Minister Bill English has had a chance meeting with Pike River miners' spokesman Bernie Monk this morning.

LISTEN ABOVE: Pike River families' representative Anna Osborne spoke to Larry Williams

Representatives from the families of the 29 men killed in the 2010 Pike River mining disaster are in the capital today, making a fresh bid for the mine to be re-entered and the bodies of their men brought home.

A number have headed to Parliament to present a new re-entry plan, hoping to sway the government and mine operators to allow experts to get inside.

MORE: Winston Peters willing to be first to re-enter Pike River mine

The plan reportedly includes creating a new entity to control the Crown-owned mine, removing responsibility from Solid Energy who stand by their claims methane inside the drift is at deadly levels.

Mr Monk, who is seeking a meeting with Mr English, says the new report shows the mine should be treated as a crime scene and not sealed.

While Mr English said his accidental encounter with Mr Monk in Wellington this morning was polite, the Government still looks unlikely to budge on the issue.

"I just indicated to him what I've said publicly - that I'll consider meeting them and that's pretty much where it was up to," he said.

"I think from here we just work out whether it's possible to meet with them on the same basis that I don't want to mislead them that there's a political decision that can make that mine safer than it is."

Labour Leader Andrew Little's challenged the Prime Minister to come to a meeting with him with the Pike River families.

He's asked Mr English to look them in the eye and tell them why he's ignoring their pleas.

It's an invitation Mr English has rejected, saying to do so would be to accept there's a political decision to be made that could put other New Zealanders' lives at risk in one of the country's most dangerous workplaces.

He said Mr Little would be the first to complain if more lives were lost because a politician over-rode the law passed by Parliament.

Mr Little is promising to prioritise the re-entry of Pike River Mine if it's safe to do so.

"Stop them sealing that mine and I promise you, when we are the government, one of the first things we will do is make sure we get an expert to look at it and if it's safe to go in, we will back you to get someone to go in."

State Owned Enterprises Minister Todd McClay said safety remains the paramount concern for Solid Energy and its board.

"They have to take that seriously - the advice I've received is that they are taking that responsibility seriously, but they need to keep working through that."

And Minister of Energy Simon Bridges is reinforcing the Government's position that re-entry to the mine's not an option.

"In terms of what Solid Energy's been saying, they've gone over it many different ways and it's simply not safe."

Labour MP Damien O'Connor's challenged Solid Energy to release advice it's received that backs its grounds that the mine isn't safe to re-enter.

But Environment Minister Nick Smith said the company's not hiding anything.

He said the company's released all nine of the reports, all 650 pages, that led it to the conclusion re-entry of the drift couldn't be concluded safely.

Pike River families say they'll keep fighting until the government agrees to re-enter the mine.

They've got a new plan to re-enter the mine that's been designed by three international mining experts.

Mr Monk, whose son died in the mine, said the plan is safe and they'll stay guarding the road to the mine until the government listens to them.

Anna Osborne, whose husband died in the mine, told Larry Williams the support is overwhelming.

"It's very heartwarming and humbling for me that six years on we have got the momentum of our nation behind us now, and this is what we needed. We need your support to continue this fight for justice."

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