Govt fails to honour Pike River promise

The Government has let down the families of the Pike River miners by allowing their body recovery to be conditional on the commercial viability of the mine, the Green Party said today.

"John Key told the Pike River families the Government would do all it could to recover the bodies. That promise has not been honoured," said Green Party West Coast based MP Kevin Hague.

"If Solid Energy determines that Pike River can't be mined then the bodies will not be recovered.

"Pike River is a tragedy of national significance. To sully the tragedy by making body recovery contingent on commercial viability reduces its importance to the whole country.

"The Government should honour its commitment to recover the bodies regardless of commercial deals," said Mr Hague.

The Green Party is also concerned that a privatised Solid Energy may be less likely to focus on body recovery.

"While the requirement to attempt body recovery would be transferred as part of any sale, we are concerned that the partial sale of state owned Solid Energy could make body recovery even less likely as commercial imperatives are increased in a privatised company.

"The pressure for dividends by big offshore shareholders could play a part. They tend to be less concerned for matters that impact on their bottom line," said Mr Hague

"The Government has seriously let down Pike River families and created the dangerous prospect that the bodies will never be recovered."