“A new report highlights the need for New Zealand to
adopt ACT’s policy of using private enterprise and local
knowledge to get its infrastructure up to speed,” says
ACT’s Infrastructure spokesperson Simon
Court.

“The New Zealand Initiative’s report
’Paving the Way: Learning from New Zealand’s Past to
Build a Better Future’ looks at what has worked in New
Zealand’s infrastructure history and what hasn’t.
Unsurprisingly, it found that central planning doesn’t
work.

“New Zealand’s limited, and parochial range
of infrastructure ownership, funding, and financing has held
the country back. Politicians’ pet projects like Auckland
Light Rail get the green light, while other projects
languish for lack of funding.

“If the Government and
Councils can’t put it on their balance sheet and fund it
from taxes and rates, it doesn’t happen. This has made us
poorer as a nation.

“We need to stop being afraid of
private funding and delivery, and embrace an approach that
is used around the world to build modern, world-class
infrastructure. ACT in government will do this.

“The
report also laments the demise of the toll system, something
ACT is proposing as a user-pays solution for big
infrastructure projects. The Auckland Harbour Bridge is a
great example of the benefits of tolling.

“New
Zealand can either carry on declining or change how we work
and do better. ACT’s policies to fund, finance, own and
operate infrastructure include:

• Electronic Road
  Pricing, which is used around the world to manage demand
  and/ or fund new roads. It is the best and fastest way to
  ease congestion.
• Crown Infrastructure Companies:
  NZTA and Kiwirail are hamstrung by their government
  ownership and statutory provisions which limit their ability
  to invest. ACT would transform them into utilities more
  comparable to Chorus, regulated private networks required to
  provide a service to customers using the flexibility and
  discipline of a business.
• Local Government
  Infrastructure: ACT will make it easier for communities to
  create off-balance-sheet infrastructure special purpose
  vehicles (SPVs). The debt raised by these SPVs will be
  secured against the assets themselves.
• GST sharing:
  Government would share 50 per cent of the GST revenue raised
  from new residential construction in their region with
  councils so they could invest in infrastructure. Councils
  would be held accountable with 30-year infrastructure
  partnership agreements with the Infrastructure
  Commission.
• Foreign Direct Investment: Allow
  investors from friendly OECD countries to come to New
  Zealand and invest while fostering stronger trading
  links.

“ACT believes in better, longer-lasting
solutions. New Zealand can’t be held hostage to central
government’s infrastructure whims or the country’s
infrastructure will remain frozen in time. We need real
change.”

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