Burton raises plight of Raurimu survivors in parliament

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 687, 20 May 1997, Page 3

Burton raises plight of Raurimu survivors in parliament

The hardships being faced by surviving victims of the Raurimu tragedy were raised in Parliament' s general debate last Tuesday by Labour MP, Mark Burton. In praising the work of the police, emergency services and victim support workers, the MP highlighted the inadequacies of the follow up services available through ACC. "As day's pass, and the publicity diminishes, those who remain, whose lives

have been shattered by the events of that day remain. "Bad enough for Henk Van de Wetering's family, the grief, trying to come to terms with his senseless death. They now have to face the utterly inadequate support services, in attempting to deal with the physical and emotional injuries of that day. "What is clear and what my colleagues and I are trying to address with the Minister responsible for Acci-

dent Compensation, is that the provisions, in dealing with the consequences of extraordinary situations such as Raurimu are absolutely deficient," Mr Burton said. He said he has made a number of representations to ACC on behalf of members of the Van de Wetering family, and, along with Labour' s ACC Spokesperson Ruth Dyson is seeking to meet this week with the Minister responsible, Jenny Shipley. "What is clear is that family members, who through no fault of their own, have their lives torn apart, must know that there will be adequate discretionary resources available to help, to support. "It shames us all, it shames this House, that Henk Van de Wetering's widow and family members face increasing health, psychological and economic hardship - because of the inadequacies of an ACC system which has been systematically run down since 1992.