3. AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) Link to this
to the Minister for Infrastructure
What progress is the Government making with its multi-billion dollar infrastructure programme?
Hon BILL ENGLISH
Mr SPEAKERBefore I invite the Minister to continue, I say to the National backbench that that kind of pathetic behaviour will not continue or someone will be leaving the House. I am deadly serious about it. It is pathetic, in this House, to cheer when a Minister starts an answer like that. A good answer can be applauded, but that was just pathetic.
More good news. Yesterday we issued the second National Infrastructure Plan, which shows the Government will invest over $17 billion in building productive infrastructure over the next 4 years, and that is excluding the $5.5 billion set aside for Canterbury. It will see the Government investing $7.6 billion in social assets like schools, hospitals, State houses, and prisons; $6.5 billion in roads; and $1.5 billion each in broadband and rail, and doing it all with no new taxes.
The plan shows that our infrastructure is generally improving, with less red tape and more investment in roading, rail, telecommunications, electricity networks, and specific projects for the Rugby World Cup. The challenges include the rebuilding of Canterbury, managing the taxpayers’ large asset base—currently $220 billion—better, and ensuring that future investment goes into areas that deliver the greatest benefits to the economy.
What are the Government’s infrastructure priorities for the next 3 years as set out in the National Infrastructure Plan?
I will say that this is the first time that the Government has set out clear priorities covering the period of the next 5 to 10 years: firstly, building Canterbury infrastructure; secondly, a comprehensive approach to investment in Auckland; thirdly, improving the management of the Government’s social infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and State housing; fourthly, focusing transport investment on supporting export-led growth; and, finally, improving the Government’s ability to monitor the performance of all infrastructure.
The Government moved immediately with a multibillion-dollar programme to unclog our economic arteries by boosting investment in productive infrastructure. We have invested, in the last three Budgets, heavily in schools—the biggest ever education capital programme—and in ultra-fast broadband, which sits alongside record investment in the electricity and State highway networks. As well as that, we have worked on improving the consenting process so that large projects can get through in a matter of months rather than several years.