More than 300 people packed into a public meeting on Monday night to demand answers over the ongoing Moa Point wastewater disaster.
What unfolded was not only anger at infrastructure failure, but also a display of misinformation, hostility and at times what was described as blatant racism.
The meeting, organised by Rongotai MP Julie-Anne Genter and Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul, was billed as an opportunity for residents to question officials about the breakdown at the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant, which has seen untreated sewage discharged off Wellington’s south coast for nearly two weeks.
Officials also fronted the crowd, including Wellington Water chief operating officer Charles Barker and Wellington Mayor Andrew Little.
However, tempers flared, and the meeting was often taken over by a small group of loud and aggressive audience members.
While many in the room came seeking information and solutions, a vocal minority repeatedly interrupted, shouted down speakers and pushed unsubstantiated claims about the cause of the failure.
One of the most persistent claims circulating inside and outside the meeting was the suggestion that Wellington’s cycleways were somehow responsible for the Moa Point failure.
There is no evidence linking active transport infrastructure to the wastewater malfunction currently under review.
That misinformation often intersected with hostility directed specifically at Paul, who is also a former Wellington City Council councillor.
Each time she approached the microphone, she was often cut off or yelled over.
Speaking to Te Ao News afterwards, she said the hostility was to be expected.
“This is the reality, Tory Whānau is not in town anymore, so I’m public enemy number one to disinformation spreaders and to racists, and they would love to blame a generational crisis on someone who wasn’t even born when the Moa Point facility plant was built.”
She said she would not retreat, despite continuing to be a target.
“I won’t let them win. I will continue to provide opportunities like that. I’ll continue to provide opportunities for truth like tonight because I know that I’m fighting against misinformation, which is all rooted in racism. Women don’t want to take up roles of leadership because of this reason that aggressive men show up. Even though they are the minority, they show up, they throw their weight around, they scream and throw their toys, and they completely ruin it for everybody else. But what I want them to know is they will not scare me, and they will not stop me from representing my community,” Paul said.
She also drew parallels with the backlash faced by former minister Nanaia Mahuta during the Three Waters reforms.
“I just want people to remember the overload of disinformation and racism that came out towards Nanaia Mahuta when she tried to lead Three Waters reforms which would’ve solved an issue like this, and all of the vitriol that whānau faced, and to know that there are Indigenous leaders in our country who are women who try to fix these issues and are instead met with lies and disinformation and targeted hate campaigns. You will never get good leaders in this country if that’s the way you treat women.”
Despite the hostility, many in the room were focused on seeking clarity when they were given the opportunity. Questions centred on what had failed in the 1.8-kilometre outfall pipe, who would pay for repairs, and how such a breakdown could be prevented in future.
Benjamin Wynyard-Terry, who is mana whenua, said many Māori do not feel comfortable in such environments.
He himself was nearly cut off when he stood to ask a pātai during the hui.
“I think that’s why you won’t see our people here, because these are not our spaces. We’re not comfortable to speak, in probably a very small mana whenua population here in Wellington. So we’re not the majority. Definitely a minority.”
He said speaking up still mattered.
“But you just have to have some bravery and just say it, even if they don’t understand where you’re coming from. But I know what I was saying was right.”
He said the ongoing discharge is a disaster, and urgent action and accountability are needed.
“It’s an ongoing long-term issue, and quite frankly, I’m sick of it. As I said to them before, the continuing of the sewage into our waters is trampling on our mana.”
Kaitiaki wai, Martin Andrews commended them for fronting the meeting.
“We’re a complicated country. My main takeaway is that they were brave to be here. It was always going to be on the cards that it turned into what it did. It started collegial, but in the last half, you could feel the energy changing. I think they were brave. They were here to take the hit.”
He said long-term change would take time.
“Long-term change is going to be incremental. But we’ve got to get ourselves to the table.”
Ihaia Puketapu, who was at the hui, described the frustration of the ignorance and hostility of those who took up the space of what could’ve been a valuable hui.
“Āhua hōhā i tēnei wā, ka puāwai te hapori katoa ki konei, heoi anō nui ake te kūaretanga ki runga i te whare nei. Koinā, kāore anō ngā tāngata e mōhio ki te ea o ēnei take e noho nei e whakawhitiwhiti kōrero.”
Tamatha Paul said that while identifying what went wrong at Moa Point is critical, the bigger challenge is how Wellingtonians rethink their relationship with water and protect the moana from long-term harm.
“The bigger point of it for me is how do we live with water, how do we be more conscious of how much water we consume, and how do we make sure that we’re not polluting the moana?
“Because those impacts might be irreversible, and to me, that’s one of the most important things. You know, the smell will go away in the bay. Some of those species that have been polluted endangered, and so that’s really important,” she said.
Taranaki Whānui ‘hurt and disappointed’
In a statement, Wellington iwi Taranaki Whānui ki te Upoko o te Ika expressed profound disappointment at the ongoing discharge of untreated wastewater.
They were not in attendance at the meeting.
Chair Te Whatanui Winiata said iwi members had reacted with “hurt, disappointment and anger,” grounded in their whakapapa relationship to the taiao.
“We believe that we are a part of the taiao. The taiao is our whanaunga. So it’s been quite a cry of hurt, disappointment and anger.”
The iwi reiterated long-held concerns about wastewater infrastructure at Moa Point and in Waiwhetū, and stressed the need for strengthened governance and kaitiakitanga at the centre of decision-making.
“This discharge is unacceptable and reflects a serious failure of infrastructure and governance. This situation requires accountability and a strengthened system,” says Winiata.
For Taranaki Whānui, the issue is not political point scoring but long-term responsibility.
“We are the constant. We don’t have the opportunity to come and go. We will always make a decision that has the region and its best interest at heart,” says Winiata.
Government to lead independent review
Local Government Minister Simon Watts has announced that a Crown Review Team will conduct an independent investigation into the Moa Point plant failure.
“The failure of a key part of our capital city’s critical wastewater infrastructure and the ensuing impact on communities, the local economy and the environment are completely unacceptable,” Watts said.
“After discussions with Wellington Mayor Andrew Little, we have agreed that an independent and transparent investigation is required to determine the causes of this failure.
“The public is owed the assurance that we understand what led to this failure and that we are taking steps to prevent it from happening again,” Watts said.
The review team will comprise independent senior water services sector figures with technical engineering, governance, commercial and legal expertise. It will be appointed to both the Wellington City Council and Wellington Water Ltd to ensure it has full scope to investigate and report on the failure.
Watts said the team would deliver clear, actionable recommendations including specific actions for Wellington City Council where necessary.
Under the government’s Local Water Done Well reforms, management of metropolitan Wellington’s water services will soon transfer to a new council-controlled organisation, Tiaki Wai Ltd, including ownership of the Moa Point plant.
