On the day of the mine explosion, Gerry Brownlee (Minister of Mining) turned down an offer of assistance by the Australian Government. When he turned this offer down, was he thinking of the 29 men trapped in the mine? The Pike River Mine company did not have proper equipment to read gas safety or danger levels following the blast. The equipment to be used by helicopter had to be sourced from Australia. If gas reading equipment had been immediately available, would it have shown levels were safe for entry and rescue? After obtaining equipment from Australia for a helicopter to take gas readings, why was there continued explanations that the mine was too dangerous to enter yet no gas readings were advised to the media. What were the gas readings that the helicopter was allegedly retrieving? How accurate would those gas readings have been? On the day of the blast and the probability of 29 bodies, why did the NZ Police not run in parallel to the rescue operation, an enquiry on possible company negligence? New Zealand has a history of mining disasters, why did New Zealand not have rescue equipment available for its immediate use? Proper rescue equipment had to be sourced from overseas (Australia and the United States). Does the lack of investment in mining safety equipment indicate the NZ Government's commitment to safety of miners? Why has the Government done away with Mining Inspectors (experts in their field) and instead use less qualified OSH inspectors? Why has the Prime Minister promoted New Zealand's resources for mining yet following the Pike River Mine disaster, the Prime Minister has admitted to allegedly not having knowledge of the Parliamentary Report on concerns of mining safety that was published some 2-3 years ago? Why has there never been any mining rescue pre-planning by Government officials? If this had been done gaps in New Zealand's inability to react to a disaster would have been highighted. If gaps had been bridged lives may have been saved. The Minister of Defence has confirmed the robots used from his Department were not designed for mines. Is it possible the second robot short circuited and contributed to the second blast? If so, who is accountable? Why has there not been any mention of the Accident Compensation Corporation's Investment into the Pike River Mine? Given that the mining company has continually underperformed, who in Government makes decisions on where to invest tax payers' money? Who holds the hidden parcel of shares under National Nominees Ltd? What investigations have been done on the initial report that smoke was seen coming from the mine on the evening before the blast occurred? On day 5 the first CCTV video footage was shown. When Peter Whittall (CEO of Mine Company) was asked by a reporter about other CCTV positions, why was the CEO's response vague? Given that CCTV footage is crucial information would he not have already viewed all other CCTV footage? Where is that footage now? Has it been seized by police? When did police complete seizure of all company records? Allegedly the company has two business disruption policies valued at $100 million. The company had also reportedly run out of cash and needed $10 million to continue operating. The CEO has claimed the steel equipment of the mine is good quality and "Would have been out of the path of the blast" (Live interview on Close-up on Friday 26th Nov). How does he know the path of the blast when the cause of the blast is not yet known? Information is at hand that the Government has acted irresponsibly in its role to protect New Zealand citizens - how independent can the Commission of Inquiry be?  Given the sensitive nature of this enquiry what vital information will be kept from the families of the victims and the general public? Why do Commission of Inquiries take much longer to conclude in comparison to investigations of serious crime? Will the Commission of Inquiry take several years before concluding its findings?