Source: New Zealand Government
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop encourages New Zealanders to have their say on the draft National Infrastructure Plan released today by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission.
“Improving the way we plan, fund, maintain and build our infrastructure is critical to boosting economic growth and increasing productivity and living standards, and so the Government welcomes today’s draft report by the independent Infrastructure Commission.
“Contrary to many perceptions, New Zealand spends a lot on infrastructure. We are in the top 10% of the OECD for infrastructure investment spending over the last decade – but in the bottom 10% of the OECD when it comes to getting ‘bang for buck’ from our spending. As the Commission says, we need to “lift our game” and there are many draft recommendations in the draft plan that will help drive better value for money from public investment.
“I am pleased to see the draft Plan makes recommendations that align with existing Government priorities, such as making better use of user pricing to fund investment, adopting spatial planning, prioritising infrastructure through the resource management system, and drastically improving asset management and maintenance. The Government will continue to advance these policy priorities and will be informed by the Commission’s final report due later in the year.
“It is clear that the central government infrastructure system needs to drastically improve. As the Commission notes, central government is New Zealand’s largest owner and funder of infrastructure. Government owns around 40% of our total stock of infrastructure and funds almost half of all infrastructure investment each year.
“However, the system is underperforming. Half of all proposals for investment in Budgets 2023 and 2024 did not have a business case. There are regularly large gaps between Budget funding being allocated and projects actually starting.
“Asset maintenance is a major problem, with New Zealand ranked fourth to last in the OECD for asset management, and dead last for the metric on Accountability and Professionalism. Over half of all capital-intensive government agencies do not have robust, comprehensive asset registers in place or adequate plans for looking after existing infrastructure. Maintenance spending is regularly diverted to building new infrastructure, resulting in costly catch-up spending later. In practice, years of poor asset management means leaky hospitals and schools, mould in police stations and courthouses, service outages on commuter rail, and poor accommodation for Defence Force personnel and their families.
“Cabinet has already agreed to an all-of-Government work programme that will improve central government asset management and performance, including investigating legislative requirements for the development of ten-year investment plans by capital intensive agencies and performance reporting requirements.
“The Government is determined to improve New Zealand’s infrastructure system and to work alongside the industry and other political parties to establish a broad consensus about what needs to change. I’ve encouraged the Commission to brief all political parties as they develop the draft plan and I’ll be writing again to relevant spokespeople encouraging them to give their feedback to the Commission over the next few weeks.
“The Government will respond to the finalised National Infrastructure Plan in 2026, once it is presented by the Commission in late 2025. As part of that response we will be engaging with other political parties in Parliament, and I intend to ask the Business Committee to hold a special Parliamentary debate on the plan.
“I thank the Infrastructure Commission for its hard work in delivering this draft National Infrastructure Plan. I encourage everyone to provide their feedback on it through the consultation process, and I look forward to receiving the final version toward the end of this year.”