New Zealand High Court clears White Island owners over deadly eruption liability

New Zealand's High Court has overturned a conviction and multi-million-dollar payments from the owners of the offshore White Island volcano which erupted in 2019, killing 22 people.

The volcano, also known as Whakaari, was a popular tourist attraction until the deadly blast six years ago.

Those victims now stand to receive less in reparations after yesterday's judgement.

As reported by the Associated Press, the release of the decision followed a three-day hearing last October for the owners’ company at the High Court in Auckland where they appealed against the charges laid by New Zealand’s workplace health and safety regulator after the 2019 eruption.

The company, Whakaari Management Ltd (WML) - owned by three brothers, Andrew, James and Peter Buttle - was ordered in March last year to pay millions of dollars in fines and restitutions to the victims of the eruption, who were mostly US and Australian cruise ship passengers on a walking tour.

Lawyers for WML filed an appeal against the criminal conviction the same month.

In the original judgement, Justice Evangelos Thomas lashed "astonishing failures" of safety audits and said WML "needed to stop and re-evaluate" safety audits.

He noted "it should have been no surprise that Whakaari could erupt at any time, and without warning, at the risk of death and serious injury.”

However, in a 99-page judgement Justice Simon Moore yesterday quashed the 2023 decision, deciding that owning the land did not necessarily transfer workplace safety responsibilities.

Several of the guilty parties in the prosecution over the White Island disaster have been sentenced.

Justice Moore stressed he had "not overlooked or minimised the unquantifiable tragedy" of the victims and their families, stating “the 47 people who were on Whakaari at the time it erupted should never have been there. The fact that they were reveals … multiple systemic failures.

"However, this appeal has been decided on what I consider the particular law and facts reveal on the question of WML's criminal liability."

Justice Moore said he offered Justice Thomas "no criticism" and that "reasonable minds have differed".

When Whakaari erupted on 9th December 2019, 47 people - tourists and tour guides - were on the island. Most had booked day trips while visiting on cruise ship Ovation of the Seas.

The case hinged on whether Whakaari Management - which granted access to the volcano to tourists and scientific groups, collecting fees for permits - should have been in charge of safety at the volcano site under New Zealand’s workplace health and safety laws. Anyone in charge of a workplace must ensure management of hazards and the safety of all there, including at entry and exit points.

The case had far-reaching implications and has already changed the laws governing New Zealand’s adventure tourism industry, which is often based around outdoor experiences on or around the country’s many natural hazards.

Operators must now take all reasonable steps to inform customers of any serious risks.