10 Dec 2010, Police Commissioner Howard Broad said the police intended to hand control of the

recovery operations at the mine to the company.

13 Jan 2011, Howard Broad told a media conference that the recovery of the bodies of the miners would
be halted as it was impractical and too unsafe. Responsibility for securing the mine would be left with
the receivers of Pike River Coal.

On 14 Jan 2011, the police announced that the mine had been sealed as it was too dangerous to
continue efforts to retrieve the bodies of the missing miners and contractors.

On 17 Jan 2011, the receivers advised the police that their plan was to spend the next five to eight
weeks stabilizing the atmosphere in the mine and the underground heat sources. The plan did not
include recovery of the bodies of the deceased miners.

On 17 Jan 2011, it was further confirmed that recovery of the bodies was unlikely.

On 9 March 2011, the receivers of Pike took control of mine from the NZ Police.

July 2012 Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd purchased the mine and also signed an agreement with the
government to recover the bodies as part of any future mining operation if it can be achieved safely, is
technically feasiable and is financially credible. The government has a watchdog role.

In Decembe 2012, Prime Minister John Key said he would apologize in person to the families of the
deceased, for the Governments weak regulations and inadequate inspection regime.

February 2013 a panel of experts (reps from Solid Energy, the Government and families of the
deceased), met to discuss whether retrieval of the bodies would be possible. The conclusion was that it
could be done.

Some work done in Oct 2013, close to the debris blockage caused by a roof fall

In Nov 2014, Solid Energy made the decision to not re-enter the Pike River due to safety reasons. Later it
was revealed that Worksafe had deemed re-entry feasible for a year.

Dec 2015, Worksafe found it is not in the public interest to pursue charges against Whittall. As part of
Osborne and Rockhouses appeal included correspondence that showed the $3.41 million voluntary
payment was proposed by WHittalls lawyer, and was conditional on the charges against him being
dropped.

April 2017, the families were frustrated to learn there was a footage withheld by Police taken by one of
the robots sent into the mine that were not shared with the public before.

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/04/video-inside-the-pike-river-mine-what-police-
never-showed-the-families.html
Tony Kokshoorn, Grey District Mayor, has demonstrated his leadership and management throughout
the incident. When the incident occurred, Mayor was at the office when he received a call that the
explosion occurred and he went there as soon as possible (Stuff, 2015). He encountered families at
night and saw that they were in distraught. Mayor deals with them by explaining to them what he knew
about the incident. He connected with the families who were hanging onto a small chance that there
may be survivors and endeavoured to support them throughout the incident by acting as a liaison
between the families and others, such as the secure team and media.

This illustrates an element of self-direction as a leader. Self-direction refers to a mental position or a

feeling toward a fact or state (Anderson, 2015). He had a courage to speak to the families and conviction
to support them to fulfil his duty as Mayor. In addition, Mayor demonstrated his emotional intelligence,
particularly in speaking to the families and supporting them during the incident (Stuff, 2015). This is
further supported by Mayor managing to control his feelings and interacting with different parties to
bring them into communication, particularly between the rescue teams and the family, instead of letting
his emotions affect his performance as a leader.

There was also an aspect of self-awareness. In the same interview with Stuff, Mayor revealed that he
was the one who lobbied Pike mine to get approved by the government (Stuff, 2015). Although his
involvement was not direct, his admission that he was part of Pike mine being set up shows that he is
not afraid to look over what he has done in the past without self-justification, which is an important trait
of leadership (Anderson, 2015).

Mayors management skills for handling the crisis can be seen as well. When he first arrived to the place,
there was an initial meeting and everyone was described as just looking at each other (Stuff, 2015). He
proceeded to check how many miners were missing and then called his office to set up the Red Cross for
families, and decided to have a talk with the families. This shows Mayor has an initiative to put his
surroundings in order, which was possible because understood his team and community very well
(Anderson, 2015).

He also continued to advocate his community and supported the relatives of the 29 miners and
contractors who died in the disaster. In 2011, when the control of mine went to receivers, he stated
they should let someone else go in if they cannot (Stuff, 2011). On 12 November 2016, he joined a
protest against the Governments refusal to enter part of the mine along with the families of the 29 men
killed (Stuff, 2016). These further highlights Mayors leadership and management, particularly in
continuing to take care of his team and motivating the team by making presence in the events in
relation to Pike mine (Anderson, 2015).
Anderson, A. (2015) Management Take charge of your Team: Communication, Leadership, Coaching and
conflict resolution (Kindle version)

Stuff. (2016) Pike River families block road to mine in protest over re-entry stoush. Retrieved from
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/86332861/Pike-families-stage-protest-against-sealing-mine-before-
drift-explored

Stuff. (2011). Mayor Calls for Action at Pike River Mine. Retrieved from
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pike-river-mine-disaster/4819363/Mayor-calls-for-action-at-Pike-River-
mine

Stuff. (2015). Pike Memories: Tony Kokshoorn. Retrieved from

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/74130845/pike-memories-tony-kokshoorn
Question 3:

There are several issues to be discussed in terms of governance of events that occurred after the
incident.

First of all, in terms of the recovery of bodies, Police Commissioner stated that he will hand over the
control of recovery operations at the mine to the company in December 2010 (Newshub, 2010). After
that, he stated in a media conference that the recovery of the bodies of the miners will not proceed any
further because it was too unsafe and impractical to do so, and the responsibility regarding the issue will
be left with the receivers of Pike, in January 2011.

This shows the accountability and responsiveness aspects of governance being undermined, because
stakeholders would have trusted that Police Commissioner would uphold his responsibility to ensure the
bodies were recovered at the end (UN ESCAP, 2014). Further complication was made when the receivers
made a plan to stabilize the conditions of the mine but did not make any reference to the recovery of
bodies in advising the police (Newshub, 2010). As a result, the recovery of the bodies was even more
unlikely, and as the receivers were not a public entity like the police, it would be more difficult for the
stakeholders to seek their interests to be addressed.

At the moment, the control lies with Solid Energy New Zealand who signed an agreement with the
government to recover the bodies if it can be achieved safely, is technically feasible and is financially
credible (Royal Commission, 2010). It seems the accountability ultimately shifted to the government,
which is playing a watchdog role for the whole future operations.

There has also been an issue of transparency in relation to evidence relating to Pike incident (UN ESCAP,
2014). In early 2017, the public learned that there was a footage from one of the drones that were kept
by the police since 2011 and never released (NZ Herald, 2017). This showed what the atmosphere was
like in the mine at the time and when the families saw the footage, they alleged that this is a
contradictory evidence to the governments report that everything in the mine had been burnt up.
While the police states that this footage was not revealed due to it having no evidential value, there are
views that it may be safe to proceed the recovery of the bodies by unmanned entry based on the
footage. As a result, there seems to be a growing skepticism from the public towards the official reports
and investigations.

The legal framework has been updated after the Pike incident, which shows the responsiveness element
of governance (UN ESCAP, 2014). For example, WorkSafe was established to observe the Health and
Safety regulations be complied with and enforced by industries in New Zealand (MBIE, 2015). Three new
legislations as a result of the Pike River Implementation Bill include WorkSafe New Zealand 2013, Health
and Safety in Employment Act 2013 and Mines Rescue Act, which means that the safety regulations
became more comprehensive to reduce the likelihood of the similar incidents from occurring in the
future.

Peter Whittall being criminally charged for his actions in relation to Pike incident involves an aspect of
the rule of law being followed (UN ESCAP, 2014). However, WorkSafe decided that it was not in the
public interest to pursue charges against Whittall and seems to have settled with him making a
voluntary payment of $3.41 million to the families and survivors (Stuff, 2017). The Court of Appeal
rejected the families appeal in regards to Whittall charges being dropped, and now the appeal has gone
up to the Supreme Court and remains to be observed. There is a question of doubt as to what should
have happened in terms of upholding the rule of law, as public interest is one of the factors that are
considered in bringing charges against someone. However, it seems to have left the stakeholders
including the family and community frustrated by not being able to convince them that this is the best
outcome for them, leaving another governance issue unresolved.

Newshub. (2010). Pike River: Mayor says 'we have hope'. Retrieved from
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/pike-river-mayor-says-we-have-hope-2010111917

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESAP) (2009) What is Good
Governance? Manuals, guidelines, training materials. http://www.unescap.org/resources/what-good-
governance

Royal Commission (2010), What Happened Two, Commissioners Report (Vol 1)

http://pikeriver.royalcommission.govt.nz/Volume-One---What-Happened-at-Pike-River---Part-Two

NZ Herald (2017). New Pike River footage undermines official 'raging inferno' story. Retrieved from
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11878811

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE), (2015). Health and Safety (Pike River
Implementation) Bill and new Mining Regulations. Retrieved from http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-
services/employment-skills/workplace-health-and-safety-reform/pike-river-implementation/health-and-
safety-pike-river-implementation-bill

Stuff (2017). Pike River families granted leave for Supreme Court appeal of dropping charges against
Peter Whittall. Retrieved from https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/93833472/pike-river-families-granted-
leave-for-supreme-court-appeal-of-dropping-charges-against-peter-whittall