A Pike River Royal Commissioner says if it was up to him somebody would have been prosecuted over the explosion at the Pike River mine that killed 29 men, Radio New Zealand reports.
Stewart Bell, Queensland's former head of mine safety, has spoken for the first time since sitting on the Royal Commission. He is giving a series of seminars in New Zealand.
Bell said he was surprised when he heard only one person, former Pike River chief executive Peter Whittall, was going to be charged with breaching safety laws.
He was even more surprised when the former Department of Labour decided to drop even the charges.
Bell said he has no doubt that had such a disaster happened in Queensland, prosecutions would have followed.
