Infrastructure Portfolio

Page updated 5 Nov 2009

The National Infrastructure Unit takes an overview of national infrastructure priorities within the infrastructure portfolio - providing cross-government co-ordination, planning and expertise. The portfolio covers a number of sectors where, in general, specific government agencies lead in terms of both policy advice and implementation.

The primary focus of the Unit, and for the infrastructure portfolio, is on the performance of the stock of physical assets that underpin the functioning of the economy, specifically network and utility systems such as transport, water, communications and energy as well as the quality of investment in, and long-run management of, key infrastructure (including areas of large capital expenditure) such as schools, hospitals and prisons. The overall aim is to ensure such networks enhance both the delivery of government services and future economic performance.

Relevant agencies in this regard include:

Infrastructure Portfolio as Discussed in the Briefing for the Incoming Minister 2008

At the time of publishing, the 2008 Briefing for the Incoming Minister (Beehive website) stated the following about the institutional arrangements for infrastructure.

Currently institutional arrangements for Infrastructure reflect the heterogeneous nature of the four network infrastructure sectors:

• energy - comprising electricity generation and transmission and the oil and gas sectors
• telecommunications - comprising fixed-line phone and broadband and mobile infrastructure
• transport - comprising road, rail, ports and airports
• water - comprising irrigation, drinking and wastewater assets.

Though there are some common policy issues and functions that apply across each area, they do not constitute a single 'sector' and involve diverse funding, ownership and regulatory arrangements.

Responsibilities are shared between the public and private sectors, and central and local government. Accordingly, to the extent that public sector oversight is provided, it is currently divided across multiple agencies:

• energy and telecommunications oversight is provided by the Ministry of Economic Development
• transport oversight is provided by the Ministry of Transport
• rail oversight is currently sitting within the Treasury, although this is an anomaly that needs to be addressed
• water infrastructure oversight is shared between the Ministry for the Environment, the Ministry of Health (for drinking water and waste water) and the Department of Internal Affairs.

These arrangements also reflect the split that is currently observed between the management of network infrastructure and 'social infrastructure' including schools, health services, prisons and other publicly-owned capital assets.

The work of other central government agencies impacts on infrastructure policy in a variety of ways; for example, the Ministry for the Environment on resource management and climate change policies, the Department of Internal Affairs is hosting work on sustainable urban development, the Department of Building and Housing deals with regulatory matters related to building and construction and on more targeted issues such as urban intensification and renewal.

Effort has also been made to better integrate infrastructure policy and planning across central and local government. A particular focus is on Auckland, which is a major source of demand for infrastructure investment. Most of the above agencies participate in a joint Auckland office - the Government Urban and Economic Development Office (GUEDO). One of the functions of GUEDO is to promote better integration of advice for Ministers and co-ordination of central government infrastructure in Auckland.

The development of the Auckland One Plan involves active engagement with local government to drive better co-ordinated and prioritised planning and infrastructure investment across the wider Auckland metropolitan region. This process gives central government greater clarity about regional investment priorities and should result in fewer ad hoc funding requests than has been typical in the past. Over time, the One Plan should provide a framework for extracting better value from infrastructure investment in the Auckland region.

Related Links

• Infrastructure Portfolio (Beehive website) - Infrastructure Ministers' media statements and speeches relating to the Infrastructure portfolio.