Supreme Court decision one more step towards truth - Pike families

Stand With Pike media release - 23 November, 2017

Pike River families are ecstatic that the Supreme Court has today agreed with them that government Ministry MBIE acted against the law when it secretly bargained to allow Pike River CE Peter Whittle to make a cash payment to avoid facing any charges for his part in the disaster.

Pike River mother Sonya Rockhouse said the decision is a huge moral victory. “There has been so much wrong done with Pike both leading up to the explosion and afterwards. This decision helps right one of those wrongs.

“We need to know, all of New Zealand needs to know, that justice will be done. This decision alongside the new agency starts to deliver truth and justice for all of us.”

Pike River widow Anna Osborne said “It’s disgraceful that a government agency would have engaged in this kind of unlawful behavior and then have fought in the courts for so long to defend it.

“We have been fortunate to have people who have so willingly given up their time in this matter and so many others related to Pike River.

“Pike was one of the worst industrial disasters in New Zealand history and we have spent too long having to fight a government that used its huge resources against us. That’s a situation no New Zealander should ever be put in and we hope that our fight will mean it never happens to anyone else.”

Pike River father Bernie Monk is delighted by the decision. “What happened that day at Pike was criminal, today’s decision goes someway to setting history straight. But we will keep fighting until all of the truth of Pike River is on the record.”

ENDS

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