A Labour MP is drafting a bill that would guarantee underground miners the same protection those in Queensland have.
West Coast MP Damien O'Connor says the industry can't wait for the Government to act.
"Our miners need better regulatory protection now, and the Queensland regulations offer the fastest way of doing that," he says.
"I will be putting up a bill that imposes the Queensland Underground Mines Regulations on all New Zealand mines."
Mr O'Connor says the royal commission's damning report on the November 2010 explosions that killed 29 men recommended bringing in the Queensland regulations.
His member's bill will go into the ballot, along with one drafted by his colleague Andrew Little which would allow companies to be charged with corporate manslaughter.
It would create a crime that would apply when workplace deaths result from failures at board and senior management levels.
"In matters as serious as a death on the job the police should be involved and this will give them jurisdiction to do so," he says.
NZN