Ultra-Fast Broadband was delivered as a public-private partnership, on time and under budget. National’s Roads of National Significance like the Waikato Expressway, the Christchurch Motorway Projects, the Kapiti Expressway and the Tauranga Eastern Link dramatically improved safety, reduced travel times and boosted economic growth around the country. National electrified the Auckland rail network, expanded the Wellington commuter network, and started the City Rail Link.
But there is so much more to do
It is now well-recognised that New Zealand has a significant infrastructure deficit.
Sadly, much of the past six years have been wasted in endless consultation, rapid oscillations in funding priorities, and interminable arguments, particularly in transport policy. National will provide clear strategic direction with a strong pipeline of projects across the public and private sectors, as well as sustainable and long-term funding.
The next National government will be much more open to the use of private capital to close our infrastructure deficit than the current government. We are interested in using public-private partnerships, tolling, and value-capture instruments to move the dial on infrastructure investment. These innovative approaches to funding are common overseas but are rarely used in New Zealand. That needs to change if we are to close that infrastructure deficit and create the type of resilient, high-growth economy that New Zealanders need and deserve.
National’s “Going for Housing Growth” plan will reform the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act to make it easier to build long-term infrastructure and facilitate new housing off councils’ balance sheets. We will also establish a $1 billion “Build for Growth” fund to pay incentive payments to councils that deliver housing above the medium-term average for that council. Local councils often say they don’t share in the benefits of housing growth. Under National, they will.
National will also alter transport funding settings to make housing growth an explicit goal of the National Land Transport Fund and Transport Plan. New state highways unlock new houses, and we will look at innovative mechanisms to capture the private gain from public spending on infrastructure. The same applies to sensible public transport projects to drive increased density in our cities, particularly around rapid transit corridors.
Simeon Brown. Photo / Alex Cairns
We are interested in exploring the potential of urban development authorities to coordinate private and public investment around transport corridors and redevelop brownfield sites.
Our view is that we need to take a longer-term approach to transport planning and funding.
The three-yearly cycle for the National Land Transport Programme is well past its used-by date and means we don’t have any certainty of what projects will be delivered when.
This not only fails to give any sense of direction but also fails to give the construction sector the certainty it needs to be able to plan for and deliver these projects. National will extend this timeframe so we can make better use of our transportation funding system.
Our transport networks are meant to be the backbone of our economy, driving economic growth and productivity, moving people and goods efficiently and helping to create a stronger economy.
However, under Labour, motorists have seen a significant infrastructure deficit worsening in our transport network. Road rehabilitation has fallen short of the standards we once recognised. Our roads are in the worst state they have ever been, with NZTA confirming that over 54,000 potholes needed to be repaired last year alone. We need a revolution in the way in which we consent infrastructure projects. As is now widely acknowledged, our New Zealand consenting framework is broken. New Zealand infrastructure developers spend $1.29b annually to consent to their projects. Consent times have increased by 150 per cent over a five-year period.
One of the areas worst affected by these ballooning costs and delays is renewable energy.
National’s Electrify New Zealand policy aims to double the amount of renewable generation we produce by 2050 to drive the mass electrification of the economy, lowering carbon emissions and growing the economy at the same time. But without significant and comprehensive RMA Reform, we haven’t a hope of getting there.
As we approach the election, National will unveil our plan to get the infrastructure in New Zealand back on track.
This will include a clear agenda of projects that the next National-led government would focus on, with clear pathways to unlocking these investments through much-needed funding reform.
· Chris Bishop is the infrastructure spokesman and Simeon Brown the transport spokesman for the National Party
