Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

While the causes of this disaster have yet to be determined, its outcome emphasises again the need to minimise the chances that this will ever happen again. The New Zealand government has announced that there will be a number of inquiries that will begin immediately. The Australian government will closely monitor the outcomes of the inquiries with a view to determining if there are any lessons that Australia can draw from this tragic experience.

This recent event at Pike River reminds us that we must keep critically examining what we can do when it comes to safety. This has been a big issue in Western Australian mines, where we have had a number of deaths in recent years, and I think everyone is focused on the need to continually improve mine safety. As a government, we have committed to funding the National Mine Safety Framework to deliver a high level of safety for Australia’s mining industry, using nationally consistent legislation and regulation. As I say, we will closely follow the inquiries into Pike River to ensure that we take any lessons that can be learnt from this tragedy.