The Cabinet has extended the deadline for the Government inquiry into the fatal Mount Maunganui and rural Pāpāmoa landslides.

Several inquiries are under way into the Mauao landslide that crashed into Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park on January 22, killing six.

Tauranga City Council’s external council review by former High Court judge Paul Davison was released on August 19, finding the disaster was “preventable”.

The Government probe also covers the Welcome Bay Rd, Pāpāmoa, landslide that happened the same morning, killing two.

Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden said in a statement that the inquiry, chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Sir Mark O’Regan, would now report back in February 2027, more than a year since the tragedies.

Van Velden said the inquiry’s purpose was to establish how the landslides occurred, report on whether relevant agencies took appropriate steps to manage any apparent risk in the period immediately before the slips and identify any lessons to reduce the chance of similar future tragedies.

This included steps to warn and evacuate people likely to be affected by the landslides.

Eight people were killed in two landslides in Tauranga on January 22. Top row are Mauao/Mount Maunganui victims, from left: Pakuranga College student couple Sharon Maccanico and Max Furse-Kee, both 15; Rotorua friends Susan (Sue) Doreen Knowles and Jacqualine (Jackie) Wheeler, both 71. Bottom row from left are Swedish tourist Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20; Morrinsville teacher Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50 from the Mauao event. Bottom right are Austen Keith Richardson, 10, and his grandmother, Yao Fang, 71, who were killed in the Welcome Bay Rd slip in Pāpāmoa.

Van Velden said O’Regan had asked the Government for an extension for the presentation of the final report.

It was previously scheduled for early December and this had been moved to February 18.

The inquiry’s terms of reference state that it must have regard for the Davison Review, which was delivered seven weeks later than originally expected.

“This extension will enable the inquiry to carefully examine the Davison Review findings,” van Velden said.

“I know any delay will be disappointing for those awaiting its findings.

“The families and loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives, and the affected communities will rightly be wanting answers.”

She said the Government expected to receive a comprehensive report, which was why it agreed to the extension.