Former MP Tau Henare, former Labour Party campaign manager and union official Shane Te Pou, and First Union general secretary Robert Reid delivered the written statement just after 10am at the Port of Auckland offices, in an exchange that took no longer than five minutes.
RICKY WILSON
Tau Henare, Shane Te Pou and Robert Reid delivered a letter to the POAL Offices on Fergusson Wharf, requesting Tony Gibson’s resignation over safety concerns. The letter calls on Ports of Auckland chairman Bill Osborne to ask Gibson to resign. In a media stand-up prior to the meeting, Henare said the three were there to give Gibson and Osborne an opportunity “to do the right thing” which was “to stand down”.
Senior Māori and union leaders say the Ports of Auckland boss needs to quit, and should leave the role without a payout.
Independent Māori Statutory Board deputy chair Tau Henare, former Labour Party and union official Shane Te Pou and First Union general secretary Robert Reid renewed their calls as they delivered a letter to Tony Gibson on Thursday, urging him to step down in the wake of a scathing review into health and safety at the port.
In recent years there have been three fatalities at the port. In 2020 Pala amo Kalati was crushed to death, while in 2018 Laboom Dyer died after the straddle carrier he was driving fell over, and in 2017 member of the public Leslie Gelberger was killed by a port vessel while swimming.
Stuff
L-R: Laboom Midnight Dyer, Palaamo Kalati and Leslie Gelberger died as the result of accidents at Ports of Auckland. For Dyer’s death, the port was fined $540,000. Judge Evangelos Thomas found: “There was a systemic failure to install and maintain a culture of safety and compliance”. A $424,000 fine for the company, and $8400 for one of its skippers, came from Gelberger’s death. The court heard Ports of Auckland’s vessels breached speed limits on 99 per cent of their journeys. Maritime NZ is investigating Kalati’s death. Initial inquiries have revealed a crane driver was not made aware of the presence of workers nearby, and that the port was not ensuring compliance with health and safety procedures.