Prime Minister John Key says he will stand by his commitment to retrieve the bodies of those killed in the Pike River mine tragedy, but that it is not clear whether that will ever be possible.Receivers were yesterday appointed for Pike River Coal, as the
Prime Minister John Key says he will stand by his commitment to retrieve the bodies of those killed in the Pike River mine tragedy, but that it is not clear whether that will ever be possible.
Receivers were yesterday appointed for Pike River Coal, as the company faces insolvency following the explosions at the West Coast mine last month.
A committee representing the families of the 29 men killed called for Government support to meet the costs of legal representation and any costs to help families resolve personal issues following the tragedy.
The group also put its support behind receivers' efforts to lobby the Government to continue funding the recovery mission, saying the first priority was to bring the men home.
Mr Key said the Government was taking advice on what funding it should provide.
"At the end of the day, the question is also whether we can ever get into the mine. That's still unclear. As long as it's burning that's not possible. It's a very volatile environment," he said.
"I raised that issue with Stewart Bell, the man that we've appointed to the Royal Commission, last week and he said it's far from clear whether we'll ever be able to get into the mine."
Mr Key said he was unsure of how much money the Government had already spent on the disaster.
"It's clearly been a large sum of money. But at the end of the day I gave a commitment to the families at Pike River I'd do everything I could to get their men out, I stand by that. I think the Government has done everything it can do so far," he said.
"If it was just a matter of a few more dollars to essentially allow the bodies to be recovered, then I think all New Zealanders would want us to do that, but it's a lot more complex than that."
Now that the company was in receivership, Mr Key said it was a priority to ensure the pay entitlements of the workers were paid out.
"We don't want to see that whittled away by further costs or some costs in the position changes when it's in receivership."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee said the Government would be speaking with the receivers to discuss future funding arrangements for the recovery.
"We've stumped up so far, with the whole of the recovery arrangements and actually the rescue arrangements, and we just need to now find out exactly what the lie of the land is, what the condition inside the mine is, and what the chance of reentering that mine are," Mr Brownlee said.
"I can't close off anything, I can't guarantee anything."
