The past twelve months have been provocative and promising for the NZ Council for Infrastructure Development (NZCID). Provocative, as with the support of our members like yourselves we have succeeded in our core objective - elevating the critical importance of infrastructure development in the minds of central government, the media and the public alike. Promising, as by developing and delivering a programme of substantive research, constructive events and considered commentary NZCID has asserted its position as a recognised authority on infrastructure development in New Zealand.
Clearly infrastructure is key to our standard of living. Infrastructure is vital to enhancing productivity and enabling ongoing and sustainable economic growth. We have enjoyed frank discussions with a number of our country’s leading decision makers. In response to this vision it is particularly pleasing to see infrastructure topping the government's agenda towards achieving economic transformation.
In her February Statement to Parliament the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of rolling out major infrastructure among the top priorities for achieving the Government’s economic transformation goals. This was mostly recently reiterated by Hon. Dr Michael Cullen’s recent address to the Labour Party Conference, “the key areas that we need to work on over the next five years are not hard to find. The first of these is infrastructure”. Increasingly the government is undertaking significant development commitments which back up this rhetoric. More specifically:
Increases in transport funding to the tune of $2b in the last twelve months:
Commitment to fully fund a five year agreed construction programme
Commitment to public debt funding by way of infrastructure bonds
NZCID's substantive study Meeting New Zealand's Transport Infrastructure Needs to 2025 was the key initiative this year. Facilitated by NZCID and carried out by infrastructure experts GHD, this report took on board input from sectors across New Zealand and is an authoritative analysis intended to constructively inform our decision makers. Notably the study seeded provocative debate attracting substantial media attention across television, radio and print media and has been a catalyst for ongoing dialogue with government sector leaders.
Preceding and supporting this study was a body of further NZCID commissioned work: studies into the benchmarking of infrastructure internationally (NZIER); the environment for public private partnerships in New Zealand (Ascari Partners), and comparisons of infrastructure development in New Zealand and Australia (GHD).
NZCID has established strong and productive relationships with Ministers, key politicians and officials in Government and used the research extensively in communicating and substantiating the key issues to be addressed. That we, together with all of our various partners in the sector, have managed to elevate infrastructure among the top for issues on Government's agenda represents good progress. But there is much to be done. A number of infrastructure issues remain an outstanding concern:
Continued uncertainty of energy security and supply
Need to take stock of the current state and future requirements of our national water infrastructure
Inability by local authorities to meet the funding bill for ongoing infrastructure maintenance and capital development
Advancing completion timeframes for strategic public transport and roading initiatives
Delivering our national infrastructure needs a long term secure and sustainable funding base to be agreed and committed, only possible if potential solutions also consider the full range of funding options, including a variety of partnering arrangements
As we move into our next 12 months gaining consensus and alignment on solutions to the issues is paramount. Member support to date has been invaluable in realising our aims so far and we look forward to your continued support moving forward.
Stephen Selwood
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
JOIN I BENEFITS I TESTIMONIALS I OPTIONS
