O'Connor Damien: WorkSafe New Zealand Bill Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill Mines Rescue Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Damien: WorkSafe New Zealand Bill Health and Safety in Employment Amendment Bill Mines Rescue Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 14 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:14736. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon DAMIEN O’CONNOR (Labour—West Coast - Tasman): Every time I rise to speak on the Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill and the legislation arising out of it there is so much to say. It has been a long time coming to this House. I have to acknowledge that this is good legislation but it is not perfect. We have pointed to the deficiencies that we believe are still in it but it is good legislation necessary legislation.It started back in 1992 with the change to the law that in effect placed the onus of safety on to employers and employees in the belief that they could get on and ensure a safe workplace. I remember warnings to me personally in 1995 about what might happen. In 1999 we raised these issues in the Government again to be refuted by officials who had the wisdom of experience they said and knew what was best for all health and safety but mine safety in particular. In the meantime within the country we continued to see—and still do of course in some industries—workers killed and not returning home from their workplaces.I would like to acknowledge the excellent speech from my colleague Andrew Little who summarised all the issues very very well. I apologise if perhaps I might be less focused and a bit more emotional relating to issues that have been part and parcel of the culture of our West Coast economy for a long time.The assurances once again repeated from Wellington were about concerns that had been in the community and in the workplace for a number of years. There were assurances from the Minister of Labour as recently as 2010 that employers were in a good position to understand the hazards arising in their workplaces and were best placed to take steps to control them. That was not the truth. It was not the reality. This legislation will make some changes to rebalance the input into health and safety in the workplace and it is necessary.There have been a lot of words a lot heard a lot said and we hope a lot learnt through the process of the royal commission post - Pike River. We have a summary. It is just a small document which I am holding up with some of the wisdom that came from that royal commission. There is a book to be launched in Greymouth tomorrow that contains a lot more wisdom—a summary a very good summary of what happened down there. That is good. We need to have things written down so that in the future people can look back and learn from the mistakes that have been made but in the end it is action that is important. No amount of words whether they be oral or in written form mean enough to ensure safety into the future without action.One of the issues that are still to be resolved is the one of accountability. My colleagues spoke of it. There were assurances and support was given to the families at the time of the tragedy. They needed that and it was acknowledged at the time. But moving beyond the lessons of the royal commission and into the changes in legislation as we have seen here there has not really been one person held to account other than the previous Minister perhaps who resigned because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Next year we believe there will be a court case here in Wellington not on the West Coast so that that person will be tried not by their peers but actually byanother group of people outside the region. I am not going to get into the wisdom of that.There is a reasonable expectation from families and they want some accountability. Accountability comes not just from nice apologies; it actually comes from acknowledgment of the mistakes made—and it is fairly hard to deny those—followed by action. The payment to families that has been I guess reasonably expected is not for some kind of mercenary offset for the tragic losses that those families have suffered; it is the action part of accountability that comes after acknowledgment. There has been acknowledgment of the mistakes as I have said and there has been a royal commission that points to the areas of fault but there has been no real action.I implore the Government to actually take action to make a payment to families as an acknowledgment of the failings at every level of Government responsibility: not resourcing the mines inspectorate having inadequate legislation not having put in codes of practice and not running a system that gave some reasonable expectation of safety not only at Pike River but in fact at Spring Creek Mine as well. The failures were systemic. They were the responsibility of Governments. I do not think that anyone can step back from that. But the Government of the day—that is the National Government now—has a responsibility to take action following acknowledgment to deliver accountability. Then the families can move on.The families have some comfort from the changes being made through this legislation in the House today but there is still reluctance. The Prime Minister says payment to them may set a precedent. I think that is rubbish. What kind of precedent has been laid down by a $30 million payment to a huge multinational for no guarantee of jobs? What precedent is set if you do sweet deals to get economic development in this country through Skycity? That is a precedent—I say a far more dangerous precedent than paying something as acknowledgment and accountability for systemic Government failure. That is a reasonable request. In the passage of this legislation the Government has acknowledged that change was needed. It has taken action here but it needs to acknowledge that faults were made and to take action by way of some form of payment to families.I hope to be at the launch of the book I am holdingTragedy at Pike River Mine tomorrow. I am working my way through it. It is a factual recollection of the very sad set of circumstances leading up to and through the whole Pike River disaster.But the next chapter is not written. That will be what has come from this. I hope that it is written in 10 years’ time. I hope that the Minister can rightfully claim that he has done his part to make the necessary changes in health and safety in mining but he knows full well that actually the resources to ensure that that occurs have not been put in place. The fact that we had two mine inspectors when the Pike River mine blew up and we now have three with one head inspector does give an indication that there is still much to be done in this area and that there are resources to be put in place. The establishment of WorkSafe New Zealand is a step forward the ability of workers to have input into workplace health and safety is a step forward and the upgrade of the Mines Rescue Trust Act is a step forward but they are only steps. We need action delivery of the necessary resources and commitment from the Government to be accountable for the terrible mistakes that have occurred through Governments and that led to this disaster.My final plea in the passage of this legislation is to say follow through Minister. Talk to your leader John Key. He comforted the families at the time. He needs to comfort the families now show accountability and with the Government acknowledge the terrible losses that they have suffered.