22 people died after the December 2019 eruption. Photo: GNS Science
A lawyer for the Whakaari/White Island owners has told the High Court that health and safety issues were the tour operator's responsibility, not the company that granted access to the island.
Whakaari Management Limited was fined $1 million and ordered to pay $4.8 million in victim reparations, for breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act (HASWA) prior to the deadly 2019 eruption that killed 22 people.
The company's directors, James, Andrew, and Peter Buttle, are appealing the criminal conviction in the Auckland High Court.
WML lawyer Rachael Reed argued that operators were responsible for the "parameters of those tours" and tourists' safety.
"Without those tours operating, they would not have been harmed, and the tours were the activity that created the risk and placed the people in harm's way."
"The tour operators controlled and managed the risks arising from their use of the workplace."
Opening the hearing, Justice Simon Moore acknowledged the 22 people who died and the 25 who survived but with serious injuries.
Justice Moore noted that most appeals came down to a reasonably narrow or fine point.
The appeal will likely focus on whether WML had a duty under section 37 of HASWA, and if so, whether it breached that duty, as WorkSafe claims, Justice Moore told the High Court.
Justice Moore acknowledged his summary was simplistic, adding that the arguments by WML and WorkSafe "will be much more fine-grained and detailed."
The appeal is expected to go until Thursday October 31.