10. Pike River Mine Disaster—Re-entry and Recovery OperationRt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) to the Prime MinisterPike River Mine Disaster—Re-entry and Recovery OperationRt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): This question is to the Prime Minister—[Interruption] I beg your pardon?Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am going to invite the member to start his question again and I do not want interjection from the front row of the—Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): Thank you for your help Mr Speaker. It is so appreciated.Mr SPEAKER: It is a pleasure sir.10. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements; if so how?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): Yes.Rt Hon Winston Peters: If there is to quote him nothing new" regarding footage taken of Pike River mine from borehole 44 showing intact wooden pallets and rubber hoses a month after the explosions why did the Prime Minister and his colleagues tell the families that there is nothing but ashes and dust down there?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member is incorrect in his assertion about what may have been said to the families but more importantly the issue of what happened in the mine was dealt with in great depth by the royal commission. The member is trying to portray the issue of what happened to the miners as a product of political opinion; it is not. It has been investigated in detail by a royal commission with all the powers of a royal commission to inquire after any evidence that it wanted to see and that has been fully and publicly reported on.Rt Hon Winston Peters: If that is true and there is to quote him "nothing new" regarding the recent footage of Pike River mine then why was the Hon Judith Collins unable yesterday to defend her comments from last year that the mine was—and I use her words—an "inferno" and referred journalists to the Prime Minister himself?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I think everyone is aware that there was a very large explosion in that mine—several explosions—and that 29 people were killed by those explosions because they were so devastating. Whether the same thing happened right through the complex structure of the mine is a matter for the experts to sort out. We are working with the families on safe unmanned investigation of the drift to see whether we can answer more of their questions.Rt Hon Winston Peters: If the Pike River families have seen footage that shows bodies still intact in the mine then why will he not show leadership and support a manned re-entry to recover those bodies rather than continuing with the families being the victims of a litany of lies?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: I simply refute the member's last statement. The facts of Pike River are set out best in the royal commission's fulsome report for which the families had legal representation and to whom all of the video was available. Our response to the families' current concerns is to proceed as is being planned with them on safe unmanned investigation of the drift to see whether we can answer more of their questions. The manned entry has been dealt with by people who under the health and safety law had to make a judgment about whether it was safe to send more people into the mine and they decided that in the light of 600 risks it was not safe."