Intermediaries have started looking for legal advice as the families of the Pike River Coal mine disaster prepare for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
They have approached the lawyer who represented families of victims of the Cave Creek tragedy who warned the inquiry needed access to the still-explosive mine.
Grant Cameron last night confirmed he had been asked to a meeting in Greymouth but could not say which of the families he may be asked to represent.
Either way, they would want to know what happened to the 29 dead miners - but it would be hard for an inquiry to "validly progress" until experts had full access to the mine.
"A lot will depend on what information we can get out of the mine, and until the bodies are recovered, that interpretation may be limited," said Mr Cameron, who represented families at the Cave Creek Commission of Inquiry at Greymouth in 1995.
Smoke poured from the mine last night after a fourth and violent, methane-fuelled explosion started a coal fire somewhere inside.
Police were last night re-evaluating how to recover the bodies.
Prime Minister John Key will brief the Cabinet today on plans for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
It would cover why the incident happened and the response to it, "because, in the end, the future of Pike River, and actually underground coal mining in New Zealand, rests on this", Mr Key told TVNZ's Q+A programme.
The three-person commission would be chaired by a judge.
It would draw on international and domestic expertise, and would have wide-ranging powers to subpoena witnesses and gather information.
Mr Cameron said the inquiry was the "only way to get the right questions asked of the right people, for the families to be happy that their questions have been answered".
Mr Cameron had yet to be formally retained by the Greymouth intermediaries.
The immediate families were coming to terms with the disaster and were not ready to consider legal advice or how the commission would affect them, he said.
Even so, he understood there was "considerable concern" about whether the police somehow prevented Mines Rescue people from immediately accessing the mine.
The terms of reference the Cabinet would discuss today should help address that concern.
He expected the terms of reference to be similar to those of the inquiry into the Cave Creek tragedy, in which 14 people were killed when a viewing platform collapsed in Paparoa National Park.
The Cave Creek terms of reference were drafted to look at causes, prevention issues, and possible need for improved practice and changes to the law.
The terms were extended to include scrutiny of the police and rescue response when families said they were concerned some of the Tai Poutini Polytech students could have been saved with a much faster response, he said.
It was likely the Pike River inquiry would require the commissioner to determine whether there had been "any breach of the law" and to report accordingly.
Alongside the Royal Commission, police, the Coroner's office, Department of Labour and the mine would carry out their own inquiries.
Mr Key said the possibility that police would lay charges could not be ruled out.
Mr Key doubted the mine would reopen before safety questions were answered and probably not until after the Royal Commission of Inquiry was over.
