Dismissal of Gibson Appeal a Major Win for Workers’ Safety

The Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and (MUNZ) has wel­comed the High Court’s decision to dis­miss the appeal of former Ports of Auck­land Chief Exec­ut­ive Tony Gib­son, call­ing the rul­ing a major vic­tory for work­ers.

The High Court upheld Gibson’s earli­er con­vic­tion under the Health and Safety at Work Act, which res­ul­ted in a $130,000 fine and an order to pay $60,000 in costs.

The pro­sec­u­tion fol­lowed the death of 31-year-old steve­dore Pala’amo Kal­ati, who was killed by a fall­ing con­tain­er at the port in August 2020.

“At the heart of this case is an entirely pre­vent­able loss of life.”

“This ver­dict is a vin­dic­a­tion for work­ers who have long warned about sys­tem­ic safety fail­ures on our water­fronts, but it does not bring back a lost work­mate, fath­er, and friend.”

MUNZ com­mends industry reg­u­lat­or Mari­time New Zea­l­and for its com­mit­ment to pur­su­ing this pro­sec­u­tion.

The court’s find­ings con­firmed that Gib­son had the know­ledge, influ­ence, and resources to address crit­ic­al safety gaps at the port yet failed to exer­cise his due dili­gence to do so.

Mr Find­lay says that MUNZ will now pur­sue the intro­duc­tion of cor­por­ate man­slaughter laws in New Zea­l­and.

“When exec­ut­ive fail­ures dir­ectly res­ult in a work­er­’s death, seni­or man­agers and dir­ect­ors must face the very real out­come of crim­in­al liab­il­ity and impris­on­ment.”