Flame and smoke billow from the Pike River coal mine, near Greymouth. In November 2010, 29 miners died after two methane explosions and a fire in the mine. In this sound file, Prime Minister John Key announces a royal commission of inquiry into the tragedy. Commissions of inquiry are one way of dealing with public concern following such disasters.
Transcript
Interviewer: Okay, now the Royal Commission itself, obviously the miners families will want to be involved. Will they be able to get legal aid because in previous Royal Commissions families in this sort of situation have needed to have lawyers represent them and they don't come cheap.
Yeah, my understanding is they will be eligible for legal aid and that's right. I don't know whether they'll choose to use one lawyer as a group or whether they'll choose to have a series or group of lawyers but they will need to be represented and one of the reasons were holding the Royal Commission of Inquiry on physically on the West Coast and Greymouth is to allow the families to attend and to listen to the submissions and the information that's presented to the commissioners.
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Reference: 156960
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