What Will reckons
Media Release
Tasmanian Liberal Leader
WILL HODGMAN, MHA
Tuesday May 23, 2006Call to Release Legal Advice
The Premier, Paul Lennon, should release the legal advice he says supports his decision to hold a secret inquiry into the Beaconsfield mine catastrophe.
Tasmanian Liberal Leader, Will Hodgman, said that for the Premier to wash his hands of responsibility beggars belief.
“Here’s a man who went to the Tasmanian people just over two months ago seeking the ultimate responsibility for running the State and who now is too frightened to take it,” Mr Hodgman said.
“His argument that he does not want to prejudice potential criminal proceedings is novel to say the least.
“Is the Premier saying he’s got early advice that there could be such proceedings? Or is it that he’s using that line to shield he and his Government from public examination?
Mr Hodgman said there already was a significant degree of discomfort with the Premier’s decision to have a secret inquiry.
“Listening to AWU Leader Bill Shorten, who had called for a public inquiry, he was decidedly reserved in his comments. Mr Shorten wanted transparency and has been presented with a veil of secrecy,” he said.
“In fact Mr Shorten is reported as saying the union won’t support that the report won’t be made public.
“Next the Premier will be hiding behind the same veil to protect himself in the Parliament.
“This is contemptuous of democracy, open government, accountability and most of all the families of those people who have lost and suffered a great deal through this catastrophe.”
What Peg says
Peg Putt MHA
Greens Opposition Leader
Monday, 22 MAY 2006
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN BEACONSFIELD MINE INQUIRY
Government Fails on Openness, Secrecy Raises Questions
The Tasmanian Greens today believe that the Inquiry into the Beaconsfield mine disaster should be an open inquiry, cover the adequacy of mining industry self-regulation on safety matters, and release a public report.
Greens Opposition Leader Peg Putt MHA welcomed that an independent judicial inquiry has been set up but queried the Premier’s excuse for the contents potentially never being made public saying that it is the norm for judicial inquiries to make their findings known but to hold back sealed sections specifically relating to the DPP and possible future charges, if necessary.
“The independent judicial inquiry is welcome but does not go far enough and neither is it open enough because it doesn’t examine the critical issue of the adequacy of industry self-regulation in safety matters and neither is it open to the public, nor do we have any guarantee that the findings will be made public,” Ms Putt said.
“The mining accident and its aftermath were extremely public and the inquiry needs to be just as public to settle concerns which might otherwise gain credence that matters could be kept secret which ought to come out.”
“It’s a missed opportunity to examine the crucial issue of mining industry self-regulation in safety matters and whether that system is adequate but for some reason the government has no interest in reviewing this vital aspect.”
“There will be a need to further scrutinise what has happened in relation to other mine accidents and deaths in Tasmania over the last decade and whether the follow-up inquiries and action have been adequate, however this was not something we expected to be covered out of this inquiry but rather to flow on from an examination of industry self-regulation.”
“We owe it to the family of Larry Knight to make sure that this investigation is as thorough and searching as possible so we need the proceeding and findings to be public in order to keep the pressure on, although of course it is possible to make provision for closed hearings and sections of the report to be sealed where necessary,” Ms Putt said.
