Pike River secrecy agreement about 'tightening up'

Wednesday, 13 March 2019

Flames coming out of a ventilation shaft at Pike River Mine after a fourth explosion.

Representatives of Pike River families will not be muzzled by a self-imposed confidentiality agreement, Anna Osborne says.

Members of the Families Reference Group (FRG) including Osborne, and Sonya Rockhouse, signed the agreement about a month ago.

Anna Osborne, left, Sonya Rockhouse and Bernie Monk in 2018 when the Government announced re-entry.

Osborne's husband Milton and Rockhouse's son Ben, 21, died in the mine explosion on November 19, 2010, along with 27 others.

The agreement came to attention when FRG member Bernie Monk, who also signed the agreement, resigned from the group a week ago.

Pike River father Bernie Monk at the families' road block on a privately-owned section of Logburn Rd.

Families Reference Group representatives Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse emerge from the Pike River Mine in March.

* Pike River families claim 'vital' evidence from mine explosion has been lost

* Pike River re-entry: Police won't be among first inside mine after risk assessment raised safety concerns

* The road to getting back into Pike River**

He said he wanted to be able to speak freely to the media and to Pike River families about what he regarded were pressing issues.

Osborne said the agreement was designed to ensure sensitive information could be conveyed to the FRG at the earliest juncture and then be made available to families when the 'the time is right'.

'We've never been gagged. It's just tightened up things. We will remain the eyes and ears of the families,' she said.

The agreement was to reassure the police and the agency they could rely on the group to handle confidential information in a responsible manner, Osborne said.

'It's not about hiding big secrets from the families. Mostly it will be minor things like dates of re-entry to ensure we don't give people false hope.'

The police would not share some information important to a potential prosecution with the FRG or others, she said.

The FRG had, without being pushed by police or the agency, initiated the agreement.

She was shocked at Monk's resignation and the FRG had sent him a letter saying it was sorry he felt the way he did.

The other members of the FRG, Tony Sutorius and Rob Egan, have been helping Pike River families for the past three years. Sutorius is making a film about the life of unionist Helen Kelly, who was a staunch advocate for the families. Egan is a Wellington communications advisor.

On Tuesday, Pike River Re-Entry Minister Andrew Little announced May 3 as the date a team would enter the mine.

* A story published on Wednesday saying Bernie Monk had not signed the agreement was incorrect.