FILE PHOTO: The view of the entrance to the hospital in Whakatane, New Zealand, December 10, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/File Photo
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand on Wednesday released a draft 30-year national infrastructure plan, which highlighted a need for the country to invest more in hospitals and electricity production and to prepare to spend more on responding to national disasters.
The plan aims to improve infrastructure preparations and introduce a less politically driven approach to infrastructure investment, which critics say has been impacted by electoral cycles with the stop-start results being costly for large projects.
“We want the National Infrastructure Plan to help build common ground about our areas of need and what is affordable for Kiwis, giving the Government of the day guidance for making decisions about infrastructure,” said Geoff Cooper, chief executive of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission.
The draft plan said the country needed to establish affordable and sustainable funding, make it easier to build new infrastructure, prioritise maintaining current infrastructure and assess the readiness of projects before they are funded.
While New Zealand was in the top 10% of the OECD in its infrastructure spend as a percentage of gross domestic product, it was not getting the returns it should, it added.
To meet demand, annual capital investment would need to increase from around NZ$20 billion ($12 billion) today to slightly more than NZ$30 billion by the 2050s, according to the plan.
The New Zealand government has outlined plans to boost the infrastructure build in the country, and earlier this year hosted an infrastructure investment summit to promote foreign investment in the country’s infrastructure.
“The Government is determined to improve New Zealand’s infrastructure system and to work alongside the industry and other political parties to establish a broad consensus about what needs to change,” said Chris Bishop, Minister for Infrastructure.
The finalised plan is expected to be released at the end of the year and will be discussed by parliament in early 2026.
($1 = 1.6565 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
