Kerre Woodham: Bridge over troubled waters

The case of the Berrymans looks set to be a burr under the saddle for the Government during this election campaign. The Berrymans and their supporters simply won't go away and nor should they.

You're probably familiar with the case by now. Ten years ago, the King Country couple was sued by Occupational Health and Safety after a bridge on their property collapsed, resulting in the death of a beekeeper, Ken Richards, who'd been visiting the Berrymans' farm.

Despite the fact that it was the Army who'd built the bridge as a training exercise, lengthy and expensive legal wrangling ensued between the Berrymans and OSH.

In 1996, the New Plymouth District Court dismissed the case against the Berrymans, but then in 1997, the couple suffered another blow, when the coroner's report into Richards' death effectively blamed them for the fatality. The coroner found that they had failed to properly maintain the bridge.

The extensive legal battle has cost the Berrymans their farm, their livelihood and their reputations. And yet an internal army report - the Butcher Report - put the blame for the death squarely on faulty Army design and construction methods.

That, you would think, would put the Berrymans in the clear. But no. The Berrymans have been unable to use this report to clear their name because the Solicitor General believes it would set a dangerous precedent to allow evidence from a secret Army court of inquiry to be used in civilian litigation. And crushing a lovely couple innocent of any crime with the machinery of state is NOT a dangerous precedent? Give me a break!

To add insult to injury, when Helen Clark was in opposition, she championed the Berrymans' cause. In a highly publicised visit in 1998, she choppered in to see the couple when they still had their farm, and pronounced them to be victims and accused the then National Government of losing touch with the rural community.

However, the moment she became Queen, she seemed to have forgotten the Berrymans. She may well be disappointed that John Tamihere reneged on his promise to refuse a golden handshake from his employers, but there are plenty of people who are just as disappointed that she has reneged on her implicit promises to the Berrymans.

The fight's not over, though. The Berrymans have two very powerful and effective champions in Dr Rob Moodie, a man who knows how to circumvent stonewalling government departments, and Paul Holmes, who for years has consistently sought to get justice for the Kiwi couple, first on TVNZ, now on Prime and always on NewstalkZB.

These men are true terriers and will not give up on the Berrymans in their battle to clear their name and win compensation.

And as people become more aware of this classic David and Goliath struggle, they are adding their voices to the calls for justice for the Berrymans.

The Government may be saying that there are difficult legal issues at stake here, but most of us don't need law degrees to know what's fair and what's not. You just need a conscience and that's something the Government seems to be lacking.