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October 17, 2025 4 mins

I flew to Greymouth the morning after Pike River first blew.  

I was there, in and out, for several weeks. I keenly remember those first few days of waiting. Of hope. Checking our phones. Checking our phones. Checking our phones. 

It’s a cliche, I know. But time moves so slowly when you’re watching a clock. I remember the calculations. How much air? Water? Food? I remember the international media pouring into Greymouth. I remember the despair on the Wednesday afternoon when the families were called in for an update. The mine had blown again. The men were all dead.  

One of the great privileges of being a journalist is that you get to meet lots of interesting people and experience lots of different things. I’ve certainly had more than my share of pinch-myself moments over the years. But for all the elections and Olympics and Donald Trump rallies I’ve been lucky to attend one the most memorable afternoons of my life was the afternoon of the Pike River memorial. 

You might recall it. It was less than a fortnight after the men went missing... a big public event at a racecourse just out of town. But instead of going, I decided to stay the afternoon in Greymouth.  

And I’ve never experienced anything like it.  

It. Was. Empty.  

Not a car. Not an open shop. Not a soul. You could walk down the painted line in the middle of the road. There was no one. Everyone was gone because a piece of everyone was gone. The loss was absolute. 

It still seems a bit surreal. Mining has never been the safest industry, and the Coast has more than its share of tragic history hidden in its magnificent bush-covered valleys, but that almost every player on a rugby pitch could go in for a shift and never come home – in modern New Zealand – is still shocking to me.  

I watched Pike River the film this week. I found it very affecting. It’s interesting to note the director Rob Sarkies also directed Out of the Blue, the film about Aramoana. He waited 16 years after the massacre to make and release that film. He’s waited almost as long for Pike River. He’s really got a knack for sensitively telling some of the most painful-but-important New Zealand stories.  

But there’s a big and obvious difference between Out of the Blue and Pike River. 

The Pike River story still isn’t over. Police and the Crown Solicitor are still deciding whether to lay criminal charges. 

After all of those days waiting to see if their boys might have somehow survived, all of those weeks and then months and then years to see if the mine could be re-entered, if they could recover the remains of their loved ones... The families of the Pike 29 are still waiting.  

The media left town. In a way, the World moved on. But you get the sense, after 15 years, that a little part of Greymouth is still hollowed out. Still waiting for justice. 

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks That'd be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
I flew to Graymouth the morning after Pike River first blew.
I was there in and out for several weeks, and
I keenly remember those first few days of waiting. Yeah,
like those first few days of hope, you know, checking
our phones and checking our phones and checking our phones.

(00:36):
It's a cliche, I know, but time moves so slowly
when you're watching a clock, and that's what I remember.
I remember the calculations, how much air might there be,
how much water could they have, how much food? I
remember the international media pouring into Graymouth. And I remember
the despair on the Wednesday afternoon when the families were

(00:57):
called in for an update. The mine had blown again
and the men were all dead. One of the great
privileges of being a journalist and being a reporter is
that you get to meet heaps of interesting people, and
you get to experience heaps of different things. And I've
certainly had more than my fair fhear of goind to

(01:18):
pinch myself moments over the years, you know. But for
all the elections and Olympics and Donald Trump rallies, that
I've been lucky enough to attend. One of the most
memorable afternoons of my life was the afternoon of the
Pike River Memorial and you might recall it from back
in twenty ten, so it was less than a fortnight

(01:41):
after the men went missing. They had this big public
event at a race course just out of town in Greymouth.
But instead of going, I decided to stay the afternoon
in Graymouth. And I've never experienced anything like it.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
It was.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Empty, empty, like hauntingly empty. Not a car, not an
open shop, not a soul. You could walk down the
painted line in the middle of the main road because
there was no one. Everyone was gone, because in a sense,

(02:21):
a piece of everyone was gone. The loss was absolute.
The whole thing still seems a bit surreal to me.
I mean, mining has obviously never been the safest industry,
and the coast has more than its share of tragic
history hidden in its magnificent bush covered valleys, But that
almost every player on a rugby pitch could go in

(02:42):
for a shift and then never come home in modern
New Zealand, that's still shocking to me. I watched Pike
River the film this week. I found it very affecting.
It's interesting to note that director Rob Saki's also directed
Out of the Blue, the film about Adam Wuana. He
waited sixteen years after the massacre to make and release

(03:05):
that film, and he's waited almost as long for Pike River.
He's really got a knack for sensitively telling some of
the most painful but important modern New Zealand stories. But
there's a big and obvious difference between Out of the
Blue and Pike River. The Pike River story still isn't over.

(03:27):
Police and the Crown Solicitor are still deciding whether to
lay criminal charges after all of those days, waiting to
see if their boys might have somehow survived all of
those weeks and then months and then years, to see
if the mind could be re entered, if they could
recover the remains of their loved ones. The families of

(03:49):
the Pike twenty nine are still waiting. The media left
town and away, the world moved on around them. But
you get the sense, after fifteen years, the little part
of Greymouth is still hollowed out, kind of like I
experienced on that afternoon, still waiting for justice.

Speaker 1 (04:13):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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