As New Zealand’s government looks to unseal a mine in which 29 workers were killed, the man preparing to take over from Jacinda Ardern when she takes maternity leave has said he is so confident of its safety that he will happily be the first one to go in.

In November 2010, two explosions tore through the Pike River Mine near Greymouth – on the South Island’s West Coast – killing the miners inside, including two Australians and two Britons.



For years, the families of some of the victims have demanded a re-entry into the coal mine to recover the bodies. The idea was rejected by the mine’s owners and the previous government as too dangerous.



During intense public debate that followed, veteran MP Winston Peters – then in opposition – said he was so sure about the lack of risk he would lead the way.



“I’m that confident on the expert advice that we have, that I’m offering to be on the first party back in,” he said in late 2016.



But with a change of government has come a decision to re-enter. Ministers this week said it could happen this year.



On Tuesday Peters – 7-3-year-old the deputy prime minister who will fill in for Ardern when her first child arrives – doubled down.



“The fences being put up by the previous government were without any validity whatsoever. I made this statement, because I believed it to be true,” the leader of the populist NZ First party told reporters in Wellington.



“I made that statement a long time before anybody wanted to enter the mine because I do have an experience of mining or working underground. So it’s nothing new in terms of danger.”



Before his career in law and his four-decades in parliament, Peters is understood to have spent a stint working in Australian mines.



No one had taken him up on his offer yet, he said.



The minister responsible for the re-entry, Andrew Little, wouldn’t say if he thought it was a good idea.



“He and I might be racing each other for it,” he said on Tuesday.



“But we’ve got to take these things seriously. We’ll leave it to the experts to determine how the re-entry happens.”



Police announced they will be restarting their investigation into the explosions because the mine is being re-entered.



Peters, an iconic and enigmatic character in New Zealand’s political landscape, will be acting PM for six weeks after Ardern has her first child, possibly this week.