The two main stars of the Pike River film have called for criminal charges to be laid against the ill-fated mine’s former chief.
While police are understood to be in the final stages of deliberating whether to press charges, a specific timeframe could not be confirmed.
Pike River follows the story of the 2010 Pike River Mine disaster, the families of the 29 men killed and their ensuing pursuit of justice.
Yellowjackets actress Melanie Lynskey and After The Party‘s Robyn Malcolm play lead roles in the 2025 film, which was directed by Robert Sarkies and released in New Zealand cinemas today.
Starring as Anna Osborne and Sonya Rockhouse, two friends who lost their respective husband and son in the mine, the homegrown actors are now advocating in person for police to finish their investigation and bring justice for families whose lives were uprooted nearly 15 years ago.
Speaking to Stuff about whether charges should be laid, Lynskey said: “Yes, of course. It was a big part of wanting to tell the [Pike River] story, understanding that it’s not over, it’s not finished. There’s a lot of work still to be done."
Malcolm added she was clear in her belief that bringing manslaughter charges against Pike River Coal’s ex-boss Peter Whittall is justified.
“I mean, Whittall needs to be up on at least 29 cases of manslaughter and he’s running an old folks’ home in Australia,” she said.
“He managed to get out of this country scot-free.”
The actresses have forged close relationships with their real-life Pike River counterparts – who continue to press for justice for their loved ones – as a result of their work on the film.
Both said Pike River Coal’s managerial disregard for workers’ health and safety in the lead-up to the accident, the subsequent legal inaction after the company settled a WorkSafe dispute by paying $3.41 million to victims’ families, and Whittall’s departure to Australia highlight significant flaws in the system.
“There are things that went really wrong and I think the health and safety of people, the everyday people who are going to work for big corporations, should be the number one priority always,“ Lynskey told Stuff.
“There has to be accountability or [corporates] feel like they can get away with anything.”
Malcolm said the men only died because health and safety protocols weren’t followed, and claimed that Whittall has avoided taking responsibility ever since.
“Early on, we all drank the Peter Whittall Kool-Aid for a minute. We were all like: ‘This is a good man and he’s standing on the side of the miners and the families’.
“And then there was this insurance payout and he got out of the country and no one has been held accountable for that loss.”
Whittall has faced years of scrutiny over Pike River Coal’s handling of the disaster, both during and in the years following.
WorkSafe (then the Department of Labour) filed 12 health and safety charges against Whittall in November 2011, but these were dropped in December 2013 after the company paid the $3.41m.
The Supreme Court later ruled that the arrangement between WorkSafe and Whittall was unlawful.
Police never pursued criminal charges against Whittall or the mining company, with their initial investigation concluding there to be a lack of evidence to prove a causal link between any individuals and the events that led to the disaster.
An investigation was reopened in 2018 and has continued ever since, with police confirming in November 2024 that they were working with the Crown Solicitor on a decision whether to press charges.
“The matter is legally complex and at this point, police expect to have a decision around prosecution[s] in the first half of next year,” police said at the time.
Eleven months on, a decision still hasn’t been made, but police have reiterated it will come in due course.
“Police continue to work with the Crown Solicitor and are unable to provide a specific timeframe for any decisions,” a spokesperson told the Herald.
Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.
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