These aren’t questions that belong exclusively to governments or business leaders. They are questions for the country, for all citizens to think about. Because once we have greater agreement about where we are heading, infrastructure and economic planning become far more coherent.
Nick Leggett, Chief Executive, Infrastructure New Zealand.
Without this kind of plan, every new Government starts from scratch. Priorities shift, projects are cancelled, strategies are rewritten and debates are reopened. Rather than building on previous decisions, we revisit them. All of which means we spend an extraordinary amount of time discussing what to do, and far less time actually doing it. New Zealand loves admiring a problem, but when it comes to finding solutions and turning them into action, we go round in circles.
This is obvious when it comes to infrastructure – billions of dollars wasted, railways and energy solutions that are never built. But we are not the only sector impacted by thumb-twiddling, and all New Zealanders lose out as a result.
Countries that know what they want to become build infrastructure that supports that future. This has been one of the strongest lessons from Infrastructure New Zealand’s international study delegations.
Whether in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Denmark, Sweden, Norway or Canada, we have repeatedly seen nations asking the same question before deciding what infrastructure to build: what kind of economy are we trying to create?
In these countries infrastructure is not viewed as an end in itself. Every road, bridge, or tunnel that is built, grows the economy. Transmission lines and railways are seen as a mean to achieve social progress, and climate resilience. Ports and water systems exist because they help deliver a national purpose. The ability to think long-term means that construction follows a path that makes sense: transmission investment follows energy ambition. Ports follow export and import ambition. Housing follows employment ambition. Transport follows economic geography.
In New Zealand we argue about individual roads and rail lines before we have agreed what economic future they are supposed to support, let alone the network they are part of. We debate the “what” before agreeing on the “why”.
That is why Infrastructure New Zealand has been calling for a national economic ambition. This is not about governments picking winners or writing prescriptive industrial plans as markets will always more strongly determine which firms succeed. But successful countries are clear about the sectors they intend to compete in and build the conditions that allow those sectors to flourish.
The countries, doing better than us, still have political disagreements. They still change governments. But they have built institutional settings that allow long-term objectives to endure. Their per capita exports also dwarf New Zealand, meaning the money they earn offshore helps fund the quality of lives and lifestyles of their respective populations. That is the lesson New Zealand should take.
Infrastructure New Zealand believes three things are needed.
First, we need a shared national economic ambition that gives greater clarity about the industries and opportunities that will underpin future prosperity. Secondly, we need bipartisan commitment to the long-term institutional settings that support infrastructure planning, funding and delivery. Governments should absolutely debate priorities, but they should not continually redesign the system itself. Third, infrastructure investment should be aligned with that national ambition so that every major investment contributes to a coherent long-term direction.
The question is no longer whether New Zealand can build infrastructure. It is whether we can build the shared ambition and purpose; creating a more productive, prosperous and resilient nation for generations to come.
Infrastructure New Zealand is a sponsor of the Herald’s Infrastructure report.