Govt backs Wellington mayor's call for Moa Pt sewage plant inquiry

The Government backs Wellington's mayor's call for an inquiry into the Moa Point sewage plant failure.

Mayor Andrew Little is meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday, where the sewage facility will be a focus of conversation.

The plant flooded last week, destroying much of the electronics and sending raw sewage into the nearby south coast.

In a post-Cabinet briefing with media, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Energy Minister Simon Watts said an inquiry should be done as soon as possible.

"We will talk to the mayor about how we can help in the best way we possibly can, but there will be a number of review scenarios. The key to this here is that we get to an answer quickly," Luxon told media. "And to work out 'well why has such a critical piece of infrastructure failed so catastrophically'."

Watts told reporters it was the council's responsibility to review what went wrong, however the council review would be supported by the Government.

"If there's anything I can do to support that, then I will be offering that to the mayor."

Watts and Luxon are set to meet with Little to discuss a number of options.

He said it was "not appropriate to go into those options" before talking with the mayor.

Watts said the leak was "completely unacceptable" and "pretty unsatisfactory", but said he remained confident in the "council and the entities involved".

Wellington Water's chief executive has warned nearby beaches may be shut for months.

Little told Midday Report there was a large public interest in the failure, meeting the level of a Government inquiry.

"Given the range of parties involved... in order to have a genuinely cohesive, independent review, I think a ministerial inquiry is needed," Little said.

"That allows the inquiry to have the powers to get the right information and give us an accurate assessment about the causes of the failures."

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Little hoped discussions with Luxon were constructive.

rnz.co.nz