Beaches are back - Time to rejoice

There's been some fantastic news on the Rena front.

First, on Sunday, they managed to get nearly all the oil off.

Now, today, our glorious beaches have reopened.

It's been a testing six weeks for the people of the Western Bay. The disaster which struck this region more than once threatened to spill more oil into our waters and on to our shoreline.

We can all recall the photos of the black beaches of a few weeks back and there were a few times I wondered if this would escalate into a full-scale disaster, especially the two times the weather packed in.

Thankfully, Rena held together and a bigger disaster was averted.

There is a huge number of people who again deserve praise and thanks. They include the salvors who have been carrying out dirty and dangerous work pumping off the oil, the salvage team leaders masterminding the operation, the care workers looking after the oiled birdlife, and of course the hundreds of volunteers who have spent time picking oil off our beaches and organising these operations.

There will be others who have also played a critical part.

In particular, I admire the volunteers. They cared enough about our coastline to spend their time helping make a difference, in some uncomfortable conditions.

A number of businesses have quite rightly worried about what Rena would mean for them. Some are still coming to terms with this but the events of the past few days should hopefully reassure them that things are looking much better for the summer. It is important our tourism officials get this message across to the rest of the country, and the world.

Getting the 1280 containers off is going to be a complex mission and one we can expect will take a long time.

Seeing images of the salvors swaying off the end of a crane yesterday just because of a sea swell really drives home for me just how hard it will be for them.

It is also vital that justice is done. I stand by my view that the Rena captain and officer who are before the courts have their name suppression lifted.

Some consideration should also be given as to whether a commission of inquiry is necessary to ensure all the facts come out. Ultimately, everything must be made public and everyone who needs to be held to account, is held to account.

It is also important the bill for the clean-up, which this week stands at more than $15 million, is delivered to the company operating this vessel. It has an obligation to pay it all.

In the meantime, we can rejoice about our beaches. Yes, it seems blobs of oil will continue to wash up for some time yet, but this is nothing compared with what could have happened.