The police investigation into the Pike River mine explosion has come at a cost of nearly $20 million over the last five years, according to data obtained by 1News.
By Donna-Marie Lever and Jessica Roden
It makes the probe one of the most expensive police investigations of all time.
However, the lead investigator, Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney, argues it’s worth it to find answers for the families of the 29 men who died in the 2010 disaster.
“It’s not something I really like to dwell on because we're not putting a cost on human life here,” he said in an interview today.
“It’s more so: what is the best evidence we can get, and how do we obtain that?”
It comes as the remains of up to three miners were located. (Source: 1News)
The work has been difficult due to the isolated terrain at Pike River, with the inner workings of the mine now completely shut off.
Police have instead drilled 18 boreholes from the outside and used them to run cameras into key areas of the mineshaft. At times, the work took them to the top of the remote Paparoa mountain range.
It has found success, with the discovery of the remains of up to 12 of the 29 miners, including another two or possibly three announced today.
However, it can now be revealed the work has also come at significant cost.
Data obtained under the Official Information Act shows the overall operating cost was $19.972 million between 2018 and April 2023.
Eleven full-time equivalent police staff were on the job. They often needed professional help and expensive services like helicopters to reach certain locations for drilling.
Sweeney said police needed to bring in “helicopters, riggers and expert drillers” for the task.
“It’s a very difficult environment to work in, and is unique worldwide,” he said.
“This hasn’t been done to our knowledge and we have to get the right equipment, because we get one crack to get the evidence.”
The costs initially started at a lower rate, with around $500,000 spent in the 2019 financial year and just under a million in 2020.
It then kicked up significantly; $7.4 million was spent in 2021, $7.7 million was spent in 2022 and $3.4 million between January and April 2023.
A breakdown of the expenses for 2023 to date shows the vast majority of the costs – $2.4 of the $3.3 million spent in that timeframe – were classified as “professional services”, which includes the work to drill the boreholes. The document does not specify exactly how those costs were accrued.
Other expenses in that timeframe include $448,000 for “vehicles, aircraft and launches”, $238,000 of property costs and $41,000 in equipment.
Costs are now expected to reduce significantly, as police have finished their site work.
“The boreholes have been drilled, imaged and they have all been resealed. This means we are now focusing on other aspects of the investigation,” Sweeney said.
Anna Osborne, who lost her husband Milton in the mine, said seeing the images had brought her “hope”, but the news was also “bittersweet”.
She told 1News she felt the images showed the men may have died “instantly” in the explosion, rather than suffering for a prolonged time.
But she explained she was still struggling that she couldn’t give her late husband a proper send off.
“I haven’t had anything, not a bone, not his wedding ring,” she said.
“That’s been hard because we are unable to bury anything and the hope of bringing him home now is not going to happen and that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
With the drilling programme now completed, police are yet to confirm whether the $20 million investigation will lead to any charges being laid.
Sweeney says while he can’t pre-empt the outcome, “from my investigative nous it’s heading the right way, getting the facts and evidence - so let’s see”.
Osborne said the lack of prosecution remained a “raw” point 13 years on from the disaster.
“I'd like to see justice,” she said.
The investigation will now enter a new phase, with police examining the evidence. A decision on any potential prosecution is expected by the end of the year.
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