Coroners 'powerless to enforce changes to law'

Coroners admit they are powerless to change legislation when they see lives being put at risk.

Instead, it has been left to the media and the public to put pressure on lawmakers to ensure that coroners' recommendations were acted upon, Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean says.

The chief coroner, who heads a team of 14 coroners across New Zealand, was responding to the rejection of coroner Tim Scott's recommendations in the wake of the death of three-year-old Summer Frank in a Kapuni effluent pond in January 2009.

Following an inquest in May, Mr Scott called for urgent legislation to ensure that farm houses were safely fenced to a high level to protect the young children of sharemilkers.

But both the Labour Department and Federated Farmers have rejected Mr Scott's recommendations, informing him that they are impractical.

Judge MacLean told the Taranaki Daily News yesterday that there was no power under the Coroners Act 2006 for a coroner to enforce a recommendation.

Both the Labour Department and Federated Farmers have promised to take an educational role to improve awareness of hazards on farms and how they can be managed to reduce risks.

Changes have also been made to the sharemilkers agreement which now requires the farm owner to be responsible for stockproof fencing around the house.

Judge MacLean said that during the drawing up of the new Coroners Act 2006, the Law Commission and parliamentary select committee determined that the judiciary should not be involved in legislation. But should a death happen again in similar circumstances such as Summer's, then the recommendations would be there on the coroners' website for all to see and hard questions would be asked of the relevant organisations, he said.

"Actually, it's the media or interest groups who will be the enforcement arm."

Whanganui MP Chester Borrows yesterday said that Summer's death had been a tragedy but there was no way to legislate for every farm hazard.

Mr Borrows urged farm workers to be very aware of their rights to negotiate quite strongly and in good faith with farmers to ensure hazards were made safe.

- © Fairfax NZ News