Stand with Pike media release - 20 August, 2018

Pike River families are horrified by Peter Whittal’s refusal to acknowledge any guilt for the deaths of 29 men, but will continue to fight for truth and justice as the drift is re-entered and more evidence is gathered.

Sonya Rockhouse, whose son Ben died in the mine, says Pike River is still unfinished business. “Twenty-nine men including my son died because their employer put profit ahead of their safety. Their bodies were never recovered, the drift was never re-entered, and nobody was held accountable. We’ve fought to get into the drift and we’ll keep pushing until we get justice for our boys.”

Bernie Monk’s son Michael’s remains are still in Pike. He says too much of what happened at the mine has been secret for too long. “So much of what happened at Pike and after the explosion has never seen the light of day, even now there are tens of thousands of documents embargoed for decades. There is still a lot we don’t know and a lot Whittal and others have to answer for.”

Anna Osborne agrees. Her husband Milton was killed in the mine. “If we hadn’t stopped the last government from sealing the mine forever we would have lost our chance at justice. Now we have an agency that is going in to get evidence and a government that wants to find out what happened rather than sweep it under the carpet.”

ENDS

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