Owners of New Zealand volcano that fatally erupted deny responsibility for visitor safety

Government investigators charged a dozen parties with health and safety law breaches after the disaster, including tourism firms, science agencies and the island’s owners. Photograph: Phil Walter/Getty

The landowners of a New Zealand volcano that fatally erupted in 2019 have rejected arguments from the country’s workplace safety regulator that they ultimately managed and controlled activities on the island and bore legal responsibility for whether visitors to it were safe.

When White Island/Whakaari exploded on 9 December 2019, 22 people were killed – 17 of them Australians – with 25 others injured. It prompted renewed debate about controls for natural hazard tourism in New Zealand.