Nick Leggett: Infrastructure NZ CEO on the focus on infrastructure in the Government's fourth quarter action plan

The Government's released its fourth quarter action plan, which largely focuses on infrastructure.  

Its 43 actions include passing the Fast-track Approvals Bill, RMA reform, and looking at more road tolls.  

It also includes establishing a National Infrastructure Agency.  

Infrastructure New Zealand chief executive Nick Leggett told Heather du Plessis-Allan the Fast-track approvals bill will help speed up infrastructure projects.  

He says the National Infrastructure Agency will be a shop front for foreign direct investment, and funding and financing tools to build more housing are also important. 

Leggett also says we need to change our mindset on tolling. 

He says if people want things, there isn't a magical money fairy to come and deliver them, as we're in a tight fiscal position.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Infrastructure looks like it's going to be the government's focus
for what is left of this year. The Prime Minister
released his Quarter four Action Plan yesterday. Plenty of the
targets are focused on getting things built and infrastructure. New
Zealand CEO Nick Legg is with us now, Hey.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Nick, Hey, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
It feels to me like the most important thing on
that list infrastructure wise, is passing the Fast Track Approvals Bill.
What do you think.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
I think that is definitely a biggie that will help
unlock and speed up infrastructure projects that might otherwise have
sat around for a long time. But then you can't
ignore the replacements to the RAMA. You can't ignore the
National Infrastructure Agency, which is going to be that shop
front for foreign direct investment, and then those funding and

(00:46):
financing tools to get more housing built. It's going to
be really important as well. Hither there's a lot there.
I guess that's the message and the government. You know,
with infrastructure, it's obviously a long term game, but you
need the settings and the policies to unlock infrastructure at
every step, whether it's funding it, designing, planning and actually

(01:09):
delivering it. And the government are in this position where
they've got to walk in chew gum at the same time,
the system needs work. That's because New Zealand doesn't have
a coherent system. That's actually not the fault of any government,
but we've got to have a coherent system that works together.
So they've got to do the system changes, and then
they've got to keep getting the projects into the market

(01:31):
and building the things that they said they would and
building those projects that are going to help make New
Zealand more productive and improve our economy.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Now, given the upset and hortus anywhere at the moment,
how do you think the tolling plans are going to
go down?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, look, I think there is. We're going to need
to change our mindset on tolling. If we want things,
there isn't this magical money theory that's going to come
down from the sky and just deliver them. We are
in a tight fiscal position, but it is also about
fairness and equity and those that use these in this case,

(02:09):
roads should pay a little bit more for those. What
we do in New Zealand is that we tend to
build stuff and then forget about it. And what we
know is that internationally we're in the bottom four countries
of the OECD in terms of the way we manage
our assets, and so we don't renew, we don't maintain.
I think Key Wes can feel that with things like

(02:29):
roads and water. So actually taking some money aside every
year from the users of a road and you know,
putting that towards either the capital cost or maintenance and
repairs and renewal will actually go a hell of a
long way to keeping these assets fit for purpose over time.
We've got to take this longer term view of the

(02:50):
country and yeah, it is going to take a shift
in mindset. But if we want these things, you know,
we've got to learn that we've got to pay for
them out of our own pockets as we go as well.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Nick, really quickly, do you have a view on why
dn Eden's hospital has blown out the way? Does? Is
this a problem with the contractor.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
No, it's these problems tend to be right from the
outset head when you know the way the project was
was shaped and structured from the outset, you didn't They
didn't link the design and the builders together, which they
should have done, and you're seeing that play out there.
But you know it's like it's like anything. There are

(03:27):
multiple reasons, you know, obviously an obsession with where it
was cited, lots of detail that added cost that probably
if a rational human was looking at it, we go, oh,
we don't really need that. I think that we've got
to get in better to standardization in this country across
everything we build buildings, roads, bridges, whatever it might be,

(03:49):
because if you can, if you can standardize a design
more often, it's much easier and cheaper to produce, and
you're not compromising standards.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
That's a fair point. Hey, thank you, nick A Shiate.
It's a negligate of infrastructure New Zealand. For more from
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