The taxpayer will fund a civil case against parties involved in the Pike River mine disaster, if its advisors believe such a case could succeed, Prime Minister John Key says.
Mine owner Solid Energy told families at a meeting in Greymouth this morning the company considered the risks to life remain too high to re-enter the mine drift in an effort to recover the bodies of the 29 men who died there on November 19, 2010, Radio New Zealand reported.
Key said at a press conference after the announcement any further criminal proceedings would be extremely difficult. However, a civil case could be a possibility and the Government would ask Crown law to consider it. “If we can do that, we will do that, and the taxpayer will pay for that.”
However, there was no guarantee a civil case would proceed, Key said.
Key, Energy Minister Simon Bridges and Environment Minister Nick Smith, along with Solid Energy chief executive Dan Clifford and board chair Pip Dunphy, met dozens of relatives this morning.
Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton was among the men killed in the West Coast mine, said families felt like they had been slapped in the face by Solid Energy, former owners Pike River Coal and the Government.
“There's just been no justice for us, I mean to not be able to have my man home and for no-one to be held to account over this - what's wrong with our justice system.”
