Pike River families congratulate Bill English on becoming Prime Minister of New Zealand, and have requested a meeting with him to discuss their new plan for re-entry of the mine’s drift.
Bernie Monk, whose son Michael was killed in the Pike disaster, says Bill English now has the chance to make good on his predecessor’s promise. “We were told everything would be done to get our boys out. But now, when experts are telling us re-entry can be done safely, the Government wants to permanently seal the mine.
“As the new leader of the country, Bill English has the opportunity to do the right thing and work with us to get our boys, and any evidence of what happened, out of that hole.
“We’ll be at Parliament on Tuesday and we are hoping he takes the opportunity to meet with us and begin putting things right.”
