Pike River disaster three years on

IT'S three years since a huge explosion ripped through New Zealand's Pike River mine but the remains of the 29 men who were killed, including two Australians, still haven't been recovered.

In the afternoon of November 19, 2010 there was a large methane explosion at the West Coast underground mine, north of Greymouth.

Two miners survived the blast and it was initially thought 29 others could be rescued.

But a second blast five days later dashed all hope, with then-Pike River Coal boss Peter Whittall delivering the news to families that the miners hadn't survived.

Two Australians, a South African and two Scots were among the dead. The youngest victim was 17, the oldest was 62.

Three years on from the disaster, its effects are still being felt.

The NZ government last week passed legislation to implement 16 recommendations made by the royal commission charged with finding out what happened at Pike River and why.

The new laws and regulations will bring mining safety into line with international best practice, Labour Minister Simon Bridges said.

The royal commission's damning report, released in November last year, said there were numerous warnings of a potential catastrophe.

"The drive for coal production before the mine was ready created the circumstances within which the tragedy occurred," it said.

Bringing those responsible for the health and safety failings that led to the miners' deaths has been a bittersweet process.

In July this year, the company that owned the Pike River mine - now in receivership - was ordered to pay $NZ110,000 ($A98,970) to each of the families of the dead miners and fined $NZ760,000.

However, the receivers said the company didn't have the money to pay the fine and gave the families just a fraction of the compensation ordered - $NZ5000 each.

Shareholders in parent company NZ Oil and Gas recently overwhelmingly voted against paying the compensation, and Prime Minister John Key has said the government won't either.

Whittall will stand trial in Wellington next year on 12 health and safety charges, but police have ruled out laying criminal charges against any individuals involved in the disaster.

Meanwhile, the families of 29 men still hope the remains of their loved ones can be recovered.

Though there's no guarantee the bodies will be retrieved, the government has put $NZ10 million towards entering the first part of the mine.

In October, the Defence Force completed the first part of the re-entry programme, removing 35 tonnes of debris from the area around the top of the mine's ventilation shaft.

The next part of the plan will be to plug the top 50 to 60 metres of the 100m ventilation shaft with up to 700 cubic metres of concrete and other material.

When the ventilation shaft in the main entry tunnel has been sealed nitrogen will be pumped into the tunnel to force out the methane, and mine experts will be able to walk down the 2.3km drift to a rockfall.

But most of the bodies are believed to be in tunnels beyond and, at this point, the operation doesn't include entering the main mine workings.

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Singer in UK court on child sex charges

VETERAN folk and rock performer Roy Harper has appeared in a UK court charged with committing a series of child sex offences in the 1970s.

The singer-songwriter, who has performed with Pink Floyd and influenced rock band Led Zeppelin, was not required to enter a plea to any of the charges during a four-minute appearance at Hereford Magistrates' Court.

Harper, of Rossmore, near Clonakilty, County Cork, in the Republic of Ireland, is accused of two counts of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl aged under 13.

The singer also faces three charges of indecent assault and four of gross indecency relating to the same alleged victim.

West Mercia Police announced last week that Harper had been charged with the offences, which are alleged to have occurred between 1975 and 1977 in the Herefordshire area.

Harper, dressed casually in a checked shirt and blue jeans, spoke only to give the clerk of the court his name and full address during today's hearing.

The 72-year-old declined to comment to reporters after his appearance before three magistrates, who granted unconditional bail and ordered him to appear before a judge at Worcester Crown Court on December 2.

The prolific performer has produced more than 30 albums during his career, and continues to tour.

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Malta to ID buyers of its citizenship

THE Maltese government has rolled back one element of its controversial law to sell its citizenship for 650,000 ($A942,644), saying it will publish the names of people buying their way into European Union passports.

The government had argued that keeping the names secret would have brought in more money - the key goal of the initiative - because more people would have been attracted to buying a Maltese passport anonymously.

But the government withdraw the secrecy clause "after listening to the people," according to a statement late Sunday.

Opposition politicians and ordinary Maltese had argued that keeping the names secret could have exposed Malta to ill-intentioned citizenship-seekers, including possible terrorists.

Citizens of EU-member Malta can freely enter and reside in any of the other 27 EU member states.

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Brooks a demanding editor: UK lawyer

REBEKAH Brooks was a demanding editor who wanted to "get stories into the newspaper", a lawyer has told her phone-hacking trial in Britain.

But Justin Walford, who worked as an in-house lawyer at the company that published The Sun and the News of the World (NotW), said he was never asked to give advice about phone hacking, and never felt under any financial pressure while checking stories for legal pitfalls.

Walford, deputy legal manager at News Group Newspapers, told the Old Bailey he was mainly responsible for legal checks on The Sun, but would stand in for legal manager Tom Crone in checking its now-defunct weekly sister title the NotW.

He told the court that lawyers would "libel read" both The Sun and the NotW before they were published, then make suggestions for possible changes.

Describing Brooks, Walford told jurors: "I think she was a very demanding editor. She wanted high standards. She was very demanding in my dealings with her."

He said she would often argue with legal queries rather than accepting them without discussion.

"She was passionate about the paper and what she wanted to get into the newspaper and we had many an argument about material going into the paper," he said.

"She is a strong personality, she has strong views and she expected hard work and everyone pulling in the same direction to get stories into the newspaper.

"It was not the case where a lawyer could just make a few legal marks and it would be quickly forgotten. She would want an explanation why those marks had been made."

Asked to describe Brooks' fellow defendant Andy Coulson, Walford said: "I think Andy Coulson was an editor who wanted to get stories into the paper.

"I didn't libel read the paper (the NotW) that many times when he was editor but he listened to advice."

He said Coulson would also argue over material to go in the paper, but would "take seriously" the legal advice he was given.

Brooks, 45; former NotW editor Andy Coulson, also 45; former NotW head of news Ian Edmondson, 44, and the tabloid's ex-managing editor Stuart Kuttner, 73 are on trial for conspiring with others to hack phones between October 3, 2000 and August 9, 2006.

Walford told the court on Monday: "Clearly editors want to get stories into the newspapers and, quite rightly, they will push the lawyer to agree the copy they want to put in."

But he said he never felt any financial pressure to allow material in.

"I try to give advice and if editors don't like it, it's up to them. It's their decision to publish, not the lawyer's.

"I have never felt under financial pressure or anything like that."

He said he could not remember being asked to give any advice on phone hacking, and had no cause to suspect that any story had been sourced in that way.

And he told the court he could not remember private investigator Glenn Mulcaire's name being mentioned until he was arrested alongside NotW royal editor Clive Goodman in 2006.

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Vic Labor wants to sell Port of Melbourne

THE Victorian Opposition will remove Melbourne's 50 worst level crossings within eight years if it wins next year's election.

This is part of its alternative plan to the East West Link that it would pay for with the $6 billion sale of the Port of Melbourne, News Corp Australia reports.

Victorian Labor leader Daniel Andrews is expected to release the plan on Tuesday.

"Victorians are sick of the chaos and congestion at our level crossings, and putting up with overcrowded and late trains and crumbling suburban and country roads," he told News Corp.

Victorian Labor opposes the $8 billion East West Link and instead wants a rail tunnel.

It believes the Port of Melbourne is worth up to $6 billion if privatised, which it says would cover the estimated cost of removing Melbourne's most congested and dangerous level crossings.

Other features of its pledge is $300 million in its first budget on planning and early works on the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel.

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