Underground Coal Mining Safety Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeUnderground Coal Mining Safety Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 03 June 2015. Volume:706;Page:4325. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Underground Coal Mining Safety BillFirst ReadingHon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman): I move That the Underground Coal Mining Safety Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee to consider the bill. Like so many members’ bills this one has been some time in gestation. It was a bill I introduced after the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy which had recommended that an “effective regulatory framework for underground coal mining should be established urgently.” The royal commission identified through its hearings the fact that Queensland and New South Wales have arguably the best practice in this area. Effectively what I did was take those Queensland mine regulations and what this bill will do is implement them immediately into New Zealand to protect the lives of miners working underground.I am sure that we will hear from the Government the excuse that much has happened in that time and I acknowledge that and that there is no need for this bill. If I can take us back through a pathway in 1994 I was given a lecture on underground mining by Bill Brazil who was a former mines inspector. He told me that the change in the legislation in 1992 by the National Government would be rued by this country and that we would be shamed by the consequences of deregulation of mining regulations that had been established through over a century of experience. How right he was.It took some time. In fact it was in the early 2000s before we started to see some major faults in the practice of underground mining. The theory had been that the Occupational Safety and Health Service would deal with the safety and the challenges and the risks of underground mining and that in fact a code of practice would be established and would be passed and would protect miners. That code of practice was never ever properly implemented and indeed the question is whether it has been implemented today—but I will come back to that issue. The inevitable catastrophe and loss of life because of an unregulated mining environment cost the lives of 29 men at Pike River and some others before. In fact I wrote a letter to the Minister of Labour just some months before Pike River raising issues that had been brought to my attention about lax practices in underground mining but I was given by the Minister—who had got it from her officials no doubt—a reassurance that all was well.This bill is my best attempt to try to protect the lives of underground miners. It was the best thing I could do because we had let our experience and that of international miners drift into the naivety of deregulation and market forces to protect the miners at work. This bill takes Queensland regulations which are not perfect—in fact of Pike River some have said that Australians designed the mine Australians ran the mine and Australians were in part a big major cause of its disaster—but Queensland regulations not implemented in New Zealand would have protected those men.The Government did move forward and pass legislation. In fact the original bill it brought in was split into three parts. One was to set up WorkSafe which has happened. The second was of course to ensure that Mines Rescue had the right authority to do its job properly. And the third was the Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Act “Pike River” having been dropped from the title. That was passed in 2013 and a key component in amended section 20A of the Health and Safety in Employment Act is subsection (1) which states: “A code of practice an amendment to a code of practice or a revocation of a code of practice has no force or effect until it has been approved by the Minister.” I rang today to see whether that code of practice has been implemented and no one could give me reassurance that it has.We have had the establishment of a High Hazards Unit. We have had progress. In fact we have had mines shut down until we could be sure that a safer regime was being carried out. Although people point the finger at Pike River the reality is that Solid Energy the Government’s own miner had such lax practices that for 6 months its mine was closed down post Pike River. Not one tonne of coal came out because it too was overseeing a dangerous mining situation. We cannot take anything for granted.What I ask of the Government is that it supports this legislation going to the select committee. It may say it has done all it can. What I say is that I want to check and this Parliament must check that the legislation is being implemented as intended that the codes of practice as identified have been implemented and are up to standard and that everything we can possibly do to make underground mining safe has been done. So I ask of the Government: can it support this bill and send it to the select committee where a group of MPs from all parties can come along and we can hear submissions from people who are responsible in the mining area to give us that reassurance?We need to know that the High Hazards Unit set up by the Government has the proper resourcing to do the job. The reality and one of the contributing factors to the Pike River mine disaster was that the Department of Labour was under-resourced. We need an assurance that Mines Rescue through the passage of this legislation has the right authority to act in the best way should we ever have to face such a terrible situation again.The legislation passed by the Government oversees safety in quarries. This year within a 1-month period we had two deaths in quarries in this country. That says to us that we still do not have things right. We need to know that the people in positions of authority and the people with responsibility have not only the qualifications but the experience to oversee proper and safe workplace practices.There are unresolved issues. Twenty-nine men still lie in the bowels of the Pike River mine. Their families have been asked to move—some say to move on. I would never ask them to move on. If you look through history if you look at all cultures one of the things we are most committed to most passionate about is trying to identify our loved ones whenever they are lost to us in any way. That is the driver for those 29 families and I would never ask them to move on. No one has been held to account. Last week in the High Court two family members were asking the court to review the decision by the Government agency that it would not proceed with the prosecution against the mine manager. Indeed the royal commission report and all the reports identify clear faults in decision making at that mine. It is not for me to judge but it is for me to say that those families have a right to ask the questions in a court of law. Mr Dave Feickert a staunch advocate for mine safety made a submission to the royal commission. The family of Mr Feickert who unfortunately has now passed away wants his submission to be made public. That has been blocked.Those are but three unresolved issues that I think need to be resolved. I ask the Government to support this bill going to the select committee to allow Parliament to review the progress or otherwise that it has made to question whether there is still a need for more improvement in the area of mine safety and work safety in this country and to ensure that everything that we can do as parliamentarians to prevent another mine disaster in this country has been done. We do not want one unnecessary death in mining or in quarrying or indeed in any workplace in New Zealand. We should not rest until we are assured that through legislation through the oversight of regulation and through our commitment to the parliamentary process we have done everything we can to ensure that men and women when they go to work can return home to their loved ones and to their families. This is what the families want most from that terrible disaster: to ensure that others do not have to suffer as they still suffer. I ask the Government to support this legislation going through to the select committee so that we can review the progress or otherwise that we have made in this House since the Pike River mine disaster.JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): I just want to acknowledge the member from West Coast - Tasman Damien O’Connor and the support that he has offered his community during this very difficult time over this last number of years.Acknowledging the tragic loss and the gaps in the health and safety regime has been something that this Government and I am sure all New Zealanders have done with utter sincerity in respect of those who lost their lives and also in respect of those families of course who lost their loved ones. Mr O’Connor said in his opening remarks that in the early 2000s “they”—I assume he means the Government or the industry no doubt—began to see the failings in the health and safety regime in underground mining. I guess our response to that statement is that at that particular point in time his party was in Government. We would look not for retrospective criticism but for proactive action when people see those issues. Also one other point is that legislation is not necessarily the process to do the checks. I understand what the member is saying. The annual review of perhaps WorkSafe New Zealand—maybe he can sub on next time that happens—is the time I think when accounts can be asked for regarding the implementation of legislation that is being put in place to make our workplaces safer.We understand of course that on that tragic day 19 November 2010 31 miners and contractors were present in the mine. Two miners managed to walk from the mine and went to hospital with moderate injuries. They were released from Grey Base Hospital in Greymouth the next day. But the remaining 16 miners and 13 contractors sadly lost their lives. Immediately following that event days later in November 2010 the Prime Minister ordered a royal commission of inquiry led by Justice Graham Panckhurst. While Justice Panckhurst was performing this royal commission of inquiry the Government also commissioned a review of health and safety practices in New Zealand. From that we have this report The Report of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety: He Korowai Whakaruruhau which I have no doubt you are familiar with. That group was chaired by Rob Jager chairman of the Shell company here in New Zealand. It is an industry that is very very familiar with hazardous situations. Shell is a company that prides itself on having international best practice in that particular field and he was the right man for the job.Though initially the royal commission report was due to come back in March 2012 obviously we know it was a very extensive commission of inquiry and it finally came back on 3 October 2012 when Justice Panckhurst reported to the Attorney-General the Hon Chris Finlayson. Not long after that that report was made public—people obviously scrutinised it and on 5 November it was made public. The royal commission as the honourable member has said came up with 16 recommendations the second of which was this—it is in the bill that the member has presented to the House—“An effective regulatory framework for underground coal mining should be established urgently.”The commission did refer to Queensland and New South Wales framework examples as demonstrating international best practice. One of the commissioners on the royal commission was Stewart Bell who was the Queensland state Commissioner for Mine Safety and Health. And so it was important to bring that expertise over to New Zealand at that time as we underwent this commission of inquiry to look at the factors that led up to this tragedy that happened at Pike River.On 12 December 2012 the Government released its plan to implement all 16 of those recommendations and as I said before on April 2013 4 months later this report The Report of the Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety: He Korowai Whakaruruhau came out. One of the things I think that this report states is that New Zealand’s culture in workplace health and safety was very lacking. If we look at international figures—for example for 100000 of population—in the United Kingdom one worker per 100000 a year would lose their lives in the workplace. Here in New Zealand for that same 100000 population we would lose four in the workplace. So obviously we know there is something that is happening in New Zealand that needs addressing and it is attitudes it is culture and it is practices and behaviour. I believe that as wein this House in due course look at the Health and Safety Reform Bill we will be able to address some of those issues which will make New Zealand a safer place for people to work in and certainly to come home from their day of work and enjoy their families and their homes in.After this report which came out in April 2013 and also after the royal commission and the Government’s response to that came out a month later in May 2013 we saw two significant reports. They came from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. One is this report I am holding—it is Safe mines: safe workers. It is the discussion document summary. Its subtitle is Implementing recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy. Some of the sections are: “Have your say”—not your say Mr Assistant Speaker but the people’s say—“We’re seeking your feedback” “A new regulatory approach” “Training and qualifications” “Worker participation” and “Emergency management”. So we see from the Pike River royal commission from the independent task force that some very I guess forensic work has been done into workplace activities and behaviours.Then 4 months later came the response to the submissions—this document from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment that I am holding Safe mines: safe workers—Response to Submissions. It reported that the ministry “received 113 submissions by the 1 July 2013 deadline”: “55 from quarry operators … 21 from mine operators … seven from individual mine workers six from mining contractors two from unions four from employer or industry organisations five from mining associations two from quarrying associations and two from tunnelling associations and nine from other industries interested parties and the public.” So we see that the Government has canvassed broadly and widely and has had some significant response in terms of what we should do regarding health and safety particularly for mining.The member’s bill was presented to the House 1 month later: the Underground Coal Mining Safety Bill under the name of Damien O’Connor. As he said for some time no doubt the bill had been in the ballot waiting to be drawn. We do understand his intent and his response to what happened in his part of the country and so we do just acknowledge that.I am sorry Mr Assistant Speaker if you think I am looking at notes but I am just reading out a chronology here that I think is important for the record. Then in December 2013 the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment released a further document. Here it is—I am holding it here. It is Safe mines: safe workers—New laws on mining health and safety: A quick guide for mine operators. But what the ministry says in this is not to just rely on the guide but to go and read the legislation. I think what it is addressing is the fact that people do not delve deeply enough into the issues around health and safety. What it states here in the introduction—it says: “The Government has recently made changes to the laws concerning health and safety in the mining industry. This is in response” obviously “to the … Royal Commission” and the tragedy that obviously happened in Pike River and to the families there. It says: “The new legal requirements have been developed with help from an expert reference group of mining health and safety and regulatory experts from New Zealand and abroad. The Government has also worked closely with people in the industry”.As I conclude what I want to say is that the Government does care immensely about the safety of miners and workers and contractors and we have demonstrated that by passing sound legislation—The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! I regret the time has come for me to leave the Chair. The House stands adjourned until 2 p.m. tomorrow. The debate is interrupted and set down for further consideration next sitting day.Debate interrupted.