8. Pike River Mine Disaster—Re-entry and Recovery OperationHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman) to the Minister for the EnvironmentPike River Mine Disaster—Re-entry and Recovery Operation8. Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman) to the Minister for the Environment: What new technical information or advice did he receive if any in relation to the possible recovery of the Pike River Mine drift prior to the meeting he attended in Greymouth yesterday?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment): The new technical information I received was on the methane levels in the drift which I shared with the families yesterday. It shows that methane levels in the mine beyond the new seal 30 metres into the drift have rapidly increased and are now over 90 percent. The mine has over 100000 cubic metres of this explosive gas present and combined with the other risks confirms the advice that entry and recovery of the drift cannot be done safely.Hon Damien O'Connor: Why will he not take the advice of the former Chief Inspector of Mines with 40 years' international mining experience who spent several years fixing the regulatory failings of the Pike River disaster and override the decisions of the board of a bankrupt company Solid Energy and allow the recovery of the drift?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I spoke with the gentleman concerned at last year's anniversary and as far as he was prepared to go with me it was the issue of might—might. Equally so under our health and safety law the advice we do need to take is from those who are legally responsible. Over $5 million has been spent on investigating whether it was possible to gain entry to the drift and the conclusion of that advice is that it could not be done safely.Hon Damien O'Connor: Does the Minister agree with Tony Forster a former mines inspector who in an email to the families yesterday said New Zealand mining law permits the recovery of a single-entry heading under the scheme designed for that purpose. A suitable scheme already exists in my opinion." and does he accept his offer to be "honoured to take part in or lead a drift recovery."?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Legal decisions under the health and safety at work legislation which this Parliament passed and the legal responsibility for safety rests with Solid Energy currently and when the mine is sealed it will then return to the Department of Conservation and the director-general Lou Sanson would then be the person who takes that responsibility. The advice I have received is that a combination of risks—100000 cubic metres of methane now in the mine the issue that there is likely to be a heat source that could trigger an explosion the fact that the mine was always unsafe without an egress and the damage that has been done to the strata increasing the risk of a rockfall—makes the overall risk profile too high such that the drift cannot safely be entered.Hon Damien O'Connor: How can a Crown Minister ignore the realities that this mine on Crown lands administered by a Crown-owned enterprise that has failed—how can he ignore the advice of independent people who say that this is possible; and why is he trying to hide behind the veil of Solid Energy a failed company?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: When the Pike River Coal company transferred the site over to Solid Energy with an explicit directive and budget from this Government to develop a plan for entry to the drift both that member and the families welcomed Solid Energy taking over because it was New Zealand's largest mining company most likely—most likely—to have the expertise around safety. What I find galling from that member is that the very lessons of Pike River are that we should not be cavalier about safety we should follow the law that this Parliament passed and we should follow the very best of expertise in ensuring the safety of New Zealand workers.Hon Damien O'Connor: How much or what percentage of the Government's $1.8 billion surplus would be needed to honour Prime Minister John Key's commitment to re-enter the drift and recover whatever is possible from that drift?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I have reviewed multiple quotes from the Prime Minister and when he said at the time of the disaster that the Government would make every effort to get access to the drift he conditioned it absolutely properly: "if it could be done safely". And I say to this House after the loss of life at Pike why would we now want to be cavalier about safety? I know there is some public interest in the issue of the new technical information in respect of Pike. I seek leave of the House to table the data that has been provided by Segas Professional about the level of methane in the drift of the Pike mine. Mr SPEAKER: In view of the sensitivity of the issue I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that recent technical advice. Is there any objection to it being tabled? There is not. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Hon Damien O'Connor: I seek leave to table two documents one being an email from Tony Forster to Bernie Monk as a representative of the families stating quite clearly that he would be honoured to take part in or lead a drift recovery. That is dated 16 November 2016. Mr SPEAKER: And the second document?Hon Damien O'Connor: The second document is a Beehive release outlining the CV and experience of Mr Tony Forster when he was appointed as Chief Inspector of Mines by this Government.Mr SPEAKER: Again I will put the leave for both of those documents. Leave is sought to table both of them. Is there any objection to them being tabled? There is not. They can be tabled.Documents by leave laid on the Table of the House."