Anna Osborne tells John Campbell of eight-year fight for husband killed at Pike River - 'you don't just leave your loved one behind'

November 14, 2018

Milton Osborne was one of 29 men who never made it home from Pike River Mine in November 2010.

Anna Osborne, whose husband Milton was killed in the Pike River disaster eight years ago, told John Campbell this morning it was "a massive day for the families" to hear of news of the plans for re-entry.

"It's a huge, huge day for the Pike River families, and we won this battle," Ms Osborne said during the interview on Breakfast. 

"We shouldn't have had to fight as hard as what we did, but we finally got here, and now we've got the decision from Minister Little that we're going to re-enter the drift; single entry option; there's enough money to do the job; and we're really grateful – very, very grateful."

Mrs Osborne said it was a “truly amazing day” for many of the families.

The Pike River Mine drift will be re-entered eight years after the disaster killed 29 men on the West Coast, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-Entry Andrew Little said.

Ms Osborne said she continued to fight for eight years after the tragedy "because of my man", saying, "You don't just leave your loved one behind".

"You don't expect them to go to work and never return home without any goodbyes. I mean, my head knows my husband is dead but my heart still longs for him, and we've missed out on a whole process, really, of, you know, when someone dies, you get a chance to be with them and bury them and go visit them, and then the men are still in that mine.

Tony Kokshoorn spoke to Breakfast this morning about the mood in the West Coast following news of plans for re-entry.

"We've missed out on that whole process, so we've had no closure and, for us, this is one step closer to getting closure. It's also one step closer to getting justice because that drift will now be explored by the forensic team and we could either get some good evidence that may open up a court proceeding."

She says the country's workplace culture must change following the devastating workplace accident which took 29 lives, saying, "You need to be a voice for these people who've lost theirs unnecessarily from neglect and negligence in the workplace".

"You have to speak up, you have to speak out – it's not acceptable that over 400 people have died since Pike River in the workplace. We have to change the culture. The workplace culture in New Zealand has to change, you know, to not have your loved one return home from work.

Mr Little outlined the Government’s plan in Wellington today, eight years after 29 men died in the mine.

"It's not something I want anyone to experience because it's a very lonely, lonely life living without your soulmate."

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