\u201cThat\u2019s why when we come to a conference like this, we can demonstrate that we\u2019re putting a lot of thought into it, we take it very seriously, and we\u2019ve got a plan to address the infrastructure deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments came as Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop outlined reforms aimed at improving infrastructure planning and asset management, including stronger oversight of major Government-funded projects and work towards a national underground asset register. <\/p>\n
Joining remotely, Bishop said New Zealand had spent too long putting difficult issues into the \u201ctoo hard basket\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is, as a country, we are not quite as wealthy as we sometimes think we are,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur great challenge as a country is how we lift our long-run growth rate and productivity.\u201d <\/p>\n
While both politicians agreed New Zealand needed better long-term planning, McAnulty accused the Government of promising projects without explaining how they would be funded.<\/p>\n
He warned New Zealand was at risk of repeating past mistakes by announcing projects before securing funding.<\/p>\n
McAnulty said Labour would support projects already underway and funded, regardless of which party initiated them.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the sake of giving everybody certainty, if a project is underway and it\u2019s funded, we\u2019ll commit to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also rejected suggestions transport investment should focus on a single mode.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoads have a crucial role to play, but so too does rail, so does public transport, so do cycleways, and so does coastal shipping.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never bought into this political argument that it\u2019s one or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n
McAnulty told Waikato Herald infrastructure sat at the heart of many of the country\u2019s biggest challenges, including housing affordability.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t build homes unless we have infrastructure. We can\u2019t have infrastructure unless local government is sustainable. All of these are interlinked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u0100p\u014dp\u014d chief executive Murray Pugh said New Zealand needed to focus less on individual projects and more on the services infrastructure delivered.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bridge is about connecting communities. Roads are about connecting communities. Fresh drinking water and wastewater services are infrastructure too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat people value are the services infrastructure delivers, not just the concrete and steel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pugh warned the country already knew its ageing population would place growing pressure on healthcare infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know our healthcare infrastructure is not going to cope with what our demographics will be in 30 years\u2019 time. That is a certainty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Comparing infrastructure maintenance to looking after a home, he said neglect inevitably led to bigger bills later.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t paint your house or fix a leak, eventually you\u2019ll find the repair bill is phenomenal compared with the cost of regular maintenance.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said New Zealand needed to stop thinking in three-year political cycles and start planning for future generations.<\/p>\n
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. Before he joined the Hamilton-based team, he worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive. He previously worked as a journalist at Black Press Media in Canada and won a fellowship with the Vancouver Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThat\u2019s why when we come to a conference like this, we can demonstrate that we\u2019re putting a lot…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26695,8310,9947,92509,6288,1350,78,1702,60798,27699,226717,111,43,139,69,17096,2171,226716,312,1455,24750],"class_list":["post-444109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-bills","tag-congress","tag-delay","tag-focused","tag-hamilton","tag-hears","tag-in","tag-infrastructure","tag-kieran","tag-labours","tag-mcanulty","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-paying","tag-plans","tag-pp","tag-says","tag-warning","tag-zealanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}