The Prime Minister today turned down pleas for an inquiry about prosecutions of Department of Conservation staff over the 1995 Cave Creek deaths.
Helen Clark said she did not intend getting involved in a re-examination of the issues of the West Coast disaster.
She added she has told Christchurch lawyer Grant Cameronthat any case made by him about re-opening the decision not to prosecute should be directed either to the Commissioner of Police or to the solicitor-general.
"As prime minister I do not intend to get involved in matters which are properly the province of statutory offices," she said in a statement.
Fourteen young people died when a DOC-built viewing platform collapsed at Cave Creek north of Punakaiki on the West Coast on April 28, 1995.
Detective Inspector Kevin Burrowes later recommended criminal charges be laid against several DOC staff involved in the platform's building and approval process.
However, the Crown did not prosecute.
Mr Cameron, acting for some of the families who lost children at Cave Creek, asked the Prime Minister last month for an independent inquiry to see if any police action should be taken against DOC staff.
He said it was obvious something was wrong and police never saw justice through to its conclusion.
Mr Cameron added "wrongs of the past" had nothing to do with Labour and the Government had nothing to lose by appointing an independent party to look into the case."
Mr Burrowes' report, now lost, said there was a "definite" case for criminal negligence against several DOC staff for failing to safely build the viewing platform, which overlooked a national park chasm at Cave Creek.
However, former conservation leader Bruce Hamilton has said nothing would be achieved by dusting off the Cave Creek file and reviewing liability.
Mr Hamilton, chairman of the West Coast Conservation Board when the platform collapsed, said it would be unfair to put those involved under stress again.
Some Cave Creek families also want the matter laid to rest, others wanted an inquiry.
