Andrew
LITTLE

Justice Spokesperson

5 March 2014 MEDIA STATEMENT

Pike deal documents should be made public

Attorney-General Chris Finlayson must make public the decisions made by Crown Law or other government agencies not to prosecute Peter Whittall after $3.4 million was made available to the victims' families, Labour's Justice spokesperson Andrew Little says.

“Peter Whittall's lawyers have said they do not ‘have any issue with any of their letters on this matter being made public’.

“However in Parliament today Mr Finlayson refused to release the correspondence.

"There is nothing stopping the Attorney-General from having the correspondence released. His failure to do so raises questions about what there is to hide.

"Who initiated discussions over the deal that saw Peter Whittall walk away scot-free from the disastrous management of the Pike River mine and the worst workplace catastrophe in decades?

"We still don't know how the public interest factors required in the prosecution guidelines were applied.

“In the meantime Labour will make applications under the Official Information Act to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to release the correspondence.”

ENDS

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