3. Pike River Mine Disaster—Drift Re-entryANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterPike River Mine Disaster—Drift Re-entry3. ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Given his predecessor told the Pike River families I'm here to give you absolute reassurance we're committed to getting the boys out and nothing's going to change that" when if ever will he be announcing the re-entry of the drift?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): We have already announced that the Government has asked Solid Energy to explore options for an unmanned entry of the Pike River drift. This announcement was made on 15 February following a meeting with representatives of the Pike River families. That work is currently under way and I understand it is progressing well.Andrew Little: Can he confirm New Zealand Mines Rescue's statement that people had been working up to 300 metres into the drift in 2011?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: That has been public knowledge since around 2011 or 2012 when the activities related to testing the feasibility of entering the mine and then later on for putting seals in place to seal off what is probably New Zealand's most dangerous workplace. So it is well known that there were people up to 300 metres in the mine but certainly none where the media yesterday alleged there were.Andrew Little: Why has the Government claimed that people going into the drift face the risk of "drowning explosion the roof caving in" when people have safely been working hundreds of metres inside the drift and a robot has safely gone 1500 metres inside the drift?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: It is not a matter of what the Government says; it is a matter of the assessment of whether or not a safe manned entry can be made up the drift and into the body of the mine. The work that was done with the agreement and cooperation of the families identified I think some 600 risks that needed to be mitigated. Those who would be responsible for the workplace and held responsible for any accident that occurred in it—that is the board of Solid Energy—decided that it was too risky.Andrew Little: Is he aware that only a few hundred metres beyond where the robot reached there is an electric switching station that likely contains evidence of the cause of the explosions which could explain those 29 deaths and give justice to the families?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: There is any amount of speculation about different aspects of the mine and the possibilities of re-entering it but the member should be careful about making promises to the families. I do not know how those promises could be credible to the Pike River families when he could not keep a promise to Willie Jackson. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order!Andrew Little: Given that Harold Gibbons a Mines Rescue member who has been at the drift says that he and others are willing to go in again what does the Prime Minister think he knows that the experts on the ground do not?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: Neither those experts nor I have the capacity or legal responsibility for making that decision. Workplace safety as that member should know better than most—because in his role with the Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) after the Pike River disaster he was a strong advocate of precisely the changes to the law that mean that they cannot volunteer to go into the workplace and a politician cannot compel anyone to go into it. I would have thought that that member who may have represented some of the 29 dead men would know better than most the risks of that workplace.Andrew Little: Can he name another workplace disaster that has killed so many people where evidence has not been recovered where the cause has never been finally established and where no responsible parties have faced justice—does he want New Zealand to know the truth or not?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: No. I do not believe there is any other workplace disaster of the nature of the Pike River disaster—as the member has outlined—and that is one reason why it is so difficult for the families because they are carrying a burden of grief as well as many unanswered questions. But in my discussions with them I felt that they were people who understood that putting further lives at risk or breaching New Zealand's law to try to do that was probably not the best way to bring those issues to a close."