Part 1 - Strategy and Priorities
Vision
Infrastructure is an enabler of economic growth and social cohesion. The Government's vision is that New Zealand's infrastructure will be of a quality, reliability and resilience sufficient to support our aspiration to become a competitive, high-productivity, high-wage and sustainable economy with good living standards enjoyed by all.
- Our markets will function smoothly and efficiently, unconstrained by over-congestion, poor asset quality, or other infrastructure deficiencies that inhibit economic activity.
- Our infrastructure will offer appropriate resilience to natural disaster and changing patterns of use caused by climate change, rising energy prices and social, technological and demographic trends.
- Our economic infrastructure will be sufficient to enable all who are willing to pay their fair share of the cost to use it for social and business activities without impediment, while our social infrastructure will be sufficient to deliver the services demanded by the community wherever the social and economic benefits exceed the costs.
By Sector:
Our roads, railways, ports, airports and telecommunications systems will offer New Zealanders greater choice about how we connect with each other and with the world. Our ports and airports will be competitive and accessible, and we will enjoy affordable ultra-fast broadband, opening up trade opportunities and enabling all New Zealanders to participate in society and the economic future of the country.
A variety of transport options will make New Zealand an easy and safe country to move around in and visit. The full social cost of each transport mode will be transparent and priced accordingly, enabling people and firms to make the best choice about how they move themselves, their goods and their ideas.
Our energy and water resources will be generated, abstracted, distributed and allocated efficiently and fairly and the environmental effects efficiently managed, the resulting dependability of these essential infrastructure services giving people and firms confidence about investing in New Zealand's productive economy.
Our public services - our education, health and justice systems - will recognise the relationship between physical assets, service levels and outcomes. Agencies will respond dynamically to forecast or unexpected changes in demand by thinking creatively about alternative ways of solving problems or delivering services.
Our cities and towns will offer a high standard of urban amenity, with infrastructure investment strongly integrated with land-use planning. Central government and our cities and regions will plan together for growth, recognising that strategic decisions about the location and timing of major, place-shaping infrastructure assets have implications for all. Co-ordinated infrastructure investment will enable the right infrastructure to be provided in the right place at the right time, ensuring we get maximum value from the investment.
Government agencies will invest in infrastructure prudently and resourcefully, rising to the challenge of an ongoing fiscal constraint by recognising opportunities to make smarter investment and procurement decisions, embracing creative ideas and drawing on private sector expertise in order to get more for less.
Government agencies will actively manage their infrastructure assets effectively over their whole life, recognising that making better use of existing infrastructure assets is just as important as investing in new assets.
Our high-quality, transparent and lean regulatory environment will balance the interests of different stakeholders, allocate property rights efficiently and provide for decision-making processes that give the private sector the confidence to invest in infrastructure in New Zealand, and to partner with central and local government.
Our engineering, construction and consultancy firms will have the confidence to invest in skills development and in the future of their businesses, and be able to draw on a reliable supply of skilled and enthusiastic graduates from our education system. New Zealand firms will be internationally sought after for their expertise and ability to deliver infrastructure projects.
