Giles
Dexter, Political Reporter
The government
has confirmed it will launch an inquiry into the fatal
landslides in the Bay of Plenty last month.
Six
people died after a portion of Mount Maunganui collapsed
onto a section of a campground on 22 January.
A
further two
people died the same morning when a separate landslide
hit a house in Papamoa.
Associate Emergency Management
Minister Chris Penk was delegated responsibility for
investigating whether the government would conduct an
inquiry, separate from the Tauranga
City Council’s inquiry.
Penk has confirmed to RNZ
that Cabinet has agreed to the inquiry into the
landslides.
“It’s clear those directly affected by
this tragic and unimaginable loss, alongside the wider
community, want to understand how these events occurred, and
whether anything could have been done to prevent them,” he
said.
Penk said the next step would be to take a
detailed paper to Cabinet, setting out the proposed scope,
terms of reference, budget, and who will be appointed to
lead it.
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“Those responsible for the inquiry will be
required to communicate with the families of the victims
about its process and progress. It is my sincere hope that
undertaking an Inquiry will help provide answers for
all.”
He said he expected to go to Cabinet with those
details in the coming weeks.
“It might be that we’re
able to get that confirmed in short order, but it might go
to the availability of people who would be ideal to have on
the panel, so we’ll take the time that we need to make that
decision, and of course, for the inquiry itself.”
The
government has previously said there was a strong case for
launching an independent inquiry, following conversations
with the families of those who had lost their
lives.
Penk said their messages had come through “loud
and clear” in the government’s decision.
The Tauranga
City Council has launched a separate independent review,
focusing on the events leading up to the landslide at the
base of Mauao.
The fact that the council owned the
Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park meant councillors had
noted there was an inherent conflict, and so expected the
Crown would order an inquiry as well.
Mayor Mahé
Drysdale previously said the Council’s investigations would
be different in scope to any Crown inquiry.
“We’re
very focused on… the 24-hours leading up to the landslips
– you know, the decisions that were made.”
He said the
scope would widen to include anything relevant, but the
priority was to establish the facts and the
timeline.
Penk said it was “all very amicable” between
the government and council in pursuing separate
inquiries.
“Nevertheless, we do feel it’s important to
conduct a separate inquiry for the benefit of those who
would feel that that’s appropriate.”
Recovery
operations at Mount Maunganui were stood down at the start
of February, but technology would remain in place to monitor
any land movements.
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, himself
a former emergency management minister, said the party
supported the government in launching an inquiry.
“Oh
yeah, 100 percent. It was the right thing to do, we said
that they should do it and if they did they’d have our
support, and they
do.”
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