One Year - Infrastructure

National is the party of infrastructure. High quality infrastructure drives economic growth, boosts productivity and enhances our way of life. This year, the Government has committed to facing major challenges in the planning, funding, consenting, delivery and maintenance of infrastructure.

It has been simply too hard to consent critical infrastructure projects in this country. As the Government overhauls our consenting regime, we have fast-tracked 149 projects for consenting, enabling up to:

·         55,000 new homes.

·         180km of new road, rail and public transport routes.

·         3000 megawatts of new renewable electricity.

·         143,000 tonnes of aquaculture.

·         11 new mining projects to contribute to our Government’s objective of doubling the value of our mineral exports to $2 billion.

These 149 projects and the fast-track legislation will help to rebuild the economy, fix our housing crisis, create jobs, improve energy security, boost exports and address our infrastructure deficit.

Solving the housing crisis is one this Government’s top priorities. This year, we have put in place our Going for Housing Growth plan which will help increase the availability of housing in New Zealand by:

·         Strengthening planning rules to help cities spread to outer city areas and increase housing density with larger residential buildings.

·         Requiring councils to allow more businesses and homes in city areas.

·         Removing the minimum floor area and balcony requirements for new builds.

·         Requiring larger councils to plan for 30 years of housing growth.

·         Making the Medium Density Residential Standards on housing size optional for councils.

Our work has not stopped there. We have helped families in social housing by:

·         Supporting 726 households, including almost 1,500 children, out of emergency housing motel rooms into better homes.

·         Initiating and acting on an independent review into Kāinga Ora, which found serious concerns with the agency’s performance and governance.

·         Instructing Kāinga Ora to take a stronger approach in managing unruly, threatening or abusive tenants.

NZTA are investing a record $32.9 billion in New Zealand’s transport network over the next three years.

This investment will create a more reliable and efficient transport network that boosts economic growth and productivity. Highlights include;

·         Reintroducing the successful Roads of National Significance programme, with 17 new state-of-the-art roads across the country.

·         $8.3 billion to deliver road upgrades to improve state highways and local roads.

·         $5.5 billion in pothole prevention on state highways and local roads to prevent and address pesky and dangerous potholes from forming on our roads.

·         $6.4 billion in public transport investment to support reliable public transport services, including four major new public transport projects to increase travel choices in our main cities.

·         $4.6 billion in maintenance and operations investment to help prioritise essential upkeep and maintenance.

·         Ending Labour’s ute-tax and the clear car discount schemes.

·         Reversing Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions, so that Kiwis aren’t needlessly slowed down.

 

New Zealand requires a long-term infrastructure plan to provide builders and developers with the certainty needed to invest in new projects. This year the Government has:

·         Started progress on a 30-year infrastructure plan, to ensure greater stability of infrastructure priorities to help New Zealand plan for, fund and deliver important projects.

·         Established a new National Infrastructure Agency to unlock access to more capital for infrastructure.