An Auckland District Court judge has acknowledged Whakaari White Island victims and their families as a complicated legal proceeding gets underway for one of Worksafe’s largest prosecutions.
Thirteen organisations and individuals have been charged in the wake of the 2019 volcanic eruption where 22 people died. Lawyers for those groups are appearing for the first time in the Auckland District Court this morning, a hearing affected by Auckland’s Alert Level 3 setting meaning some appeared via video link.
They are: Whakaari Management, the island’s owners Andrew, James and Peter Buttle, the Institute of Geological Nuclear Sciences, the National Emergency Management Agency, White Island Tours, Volcanic Air Safaris, Aerius Limited, Kahu (NZ) Limited, Inflite Charters, ID Tours New Zealand, Tauranga Tourism Services.
Paul Quinn who fronted as the chairman for White Island Tours during the tragedy was also listening intently in the public gallery.
Still, none of the defendants’ lawyers entered pleas as disclosure is still ongoing.
To get an idea of the complexity, one lawyer for White Island Tours told the court that he’d already received 10,000 pages of disclosure with more to come.
Judge Evangelos Thomas told three rows of lawyers that before the business of the day got underway it was important to remember the loss that had occurred.
"It is important that we remember and honour those who lost their lives in the Whakaari eruption," the judge said.
"Their families their whānau. We acknowledge all those who suffer who continue to suffer pain grief loss and hardship we acknowledge the Whakatāne community the Bay of Plenty community all those communities in New Zealand and around the world affected by this tragedy. Our thoughts are with you all, and always will be."
Arguments also heard from White Island Tours’ counsel that the next hearing should be held in Whakatāne, in the community where the tragedy occurred, and that Worksafe had made an error by laying charges in Auckland. Worksafe pushing back against any suggestion of error.
Judge Thomas laid out the practicalities of a hearing in Whakatāne. He said that court has two rooms neither of them as big as Auckland. The next hearing is set down for June 3 and 4.
What shape any trial or trials – if parties ask for severance - would look like is still to be determined.
“The real questions between now and then are probably going to focus on any particular reason why it shouldn’t be in Whakatāne,” Judge Thomas said.
He also intends to appoint counsel to represent victims’ views.
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