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Source: ONE News -
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Changes need to be made to sharemilkers' contracts to prevent another drowning tragedy, says the family of toddler Summer Frank.
Three-year-old Summer died after she and her younger brother Brodie, two, fell into the cowshed effluent pond 75m from their unfenced farmhouse in Kapuni, Taranaki, about 7pm on January 8.
Her family had asked the farm owner to put up a fence around the house, but it had not been done.
At the opening of the inquest on Thursday into Summer's death, coroner Tim Scott said he will be making recommendations aimed at preventing a repeat of the tragedy.
Constable Glenn Davy on Friday the hearing that the toddlers' pregnant mother, Kelly Hughes, had been in the toilet when the children wandered off.
When she realised what had happened, she jumped into the pond and pulled them out .
A post-mortem found Summer had drowned, he said.
There were no suspicious circumstances, Davy said.
Summer's father, Aaron Frank, and grandmother, Ellen Frank, told the hearing that both had asked the farm owner to put up a fence around the house but he had replied that he first wanted to level the section.
Scott said he will recommend to Federated Farmers that its sharemilkers' agreement ensures there is secure fencing beyond the confines of their home property.
Clause 119 of the sharemilkers' employment agreement with farm owners states the house must have a suitable area surrounding it and be securely fenced but it was ambiguous as to who was responsible for this, Summer's aunt, Lisa Frank, told the Taranaki
Daily News.
Legal advice she sought was that it was more likely the farm owner who should bear the responsibility, she said.
"Either way it's an issue that needs immediate attention."
