Education Minister Jan Tinetti has indicated action will be taken to ensure a tragedy like the one in Whangārei's Abbey Caves never happens again.
Speaking to AM on Wednesday, Tinetti confirmed she would be talking to officials after the body of a missing student was recovered in the caves overnight.
The student went missing on Tuesday morning after a group from Whangārei Boys' High School got into trouble during a school trip to Abbey Caves when the wet weather set in.
All of the group eventually made it out, other than the student whose body was found overnight.
"It's simply a huge tragedy that none of us ever want to imagine going through… a beautiful young boy didn't come home yesterday," said Tinetti.
"Of course, there are going to be lots of questions - we've all got them and those answers do need to come forward, and I will be talking to my officials today about just that but, at the same time, being mindful that today is a time of grief."
Whangārei Boys' High School was under fire from the community, with one parent saying those responsible for organising the cave trip needed "to be held to account".
But others have defended the school, urging people not to jump to conclusions before all the facts were known.
"I can understand why people will say, 'It's hard to believe how they could go with a rain warning being a cave.' But, having said that, you shouldn't judge people before you know all the circumstances they faced at the time," ACT Party leader David Seymour told AM Early.
Tinetti said now was the time to support the school and the grieving family.
She said she would be attempting to contact Whangārei Boys' High School principal Karen Gilbert-Smith on Wednesday.
"The best thing any of us can do is wrap around that school, wrap around those young people and wrap around that family."
A Givealittle page has been set up to help support the boy's whānau.
