2 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Govt's $6b announcement has nothing new
By Nick James of RNZ
The Labour Party is pouring cold water on the government's latest announcement that $6 billion worth of infrastructure work will start before Christmas.
Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop on Sunday said billions of dollars' worth of significant plans would get underway in the coming months.
Those projects included the Hutt Valley Te Whare Ahuru Acute Mental Health Unit, interim works for the State Highway 22 Drury Corridor Upgrade and the Brougham Street upgrade in Christchurch.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that it was really important to start infrastructure projects before Christmas to help get people into work.
"There's a lot of work to do, we are coming out of a three-year recession, we have made some progress in the first quarter, but we have to drive growth, growth, growth," he told Morning Report.
Luxon said the government was doing everything it could to get infrastructure underway through measures such as RMA reform and fast track legislation.
But Labour's Infrastructure spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said all the projects the government identified had previously been announced, some by the last government, before being put on hold.
He told Morning Report the infrastructure sector needed certainty of not just projects that had been announced but new projects.
"A bit of certainty to keep their jobs, keep people in work or attract them back."
Luxon said with regard to Labour's record he recalled a hospital project which he said was launched in 2018 which had not started.
"You can talk about projects, or you can do them and our record on projects is really good."
High interest rates caused by high inflation under the last government's watch made it hard for construction businesses because they had to borrow money for development, Luxon said.
Infrastructure New Zealand's Nick Leggett said after a year of layoffs there were signs of confidence returning, but the sector needed consistency.
"What we have got to ensure is that pipeline doesn't pause, that irrespective of future changes, economic changes, changes in government, we need stronger commitments from both sides of Parliament to keep projects going," he said.
Leggett said that included improving already built infrastructure and new projects.
Bishop said there were almost $4b of roading projects in the list of work getting underway, including the Ōtaki to north of Levin expressway, the Melling interchange, the Waihoehoe Road upgrade, and the new Ōmanawa bridge on SH29.
The projects would create thousands of jobs and lift productivity by getting people and freight to their destinations quickly and safely, Bishop said.
