Nick Leggett: Infrastructure New Zealand CEO on the report discussing the long-term spending demands for infrastructure

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New Zealand is being recommended to find a long-term vision for its infrastructure.

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The Infrastructure Commission's released a new report on long-term spending demands ahead of next year's National Infrastructure Plan. 

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Infrastructure New Zealand CEO Nick Leggett says we need to better understand the wide benefits of infrastructure if we're to succeed long-term. 

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He told Ryan Bridge that when compared with the rest of the OECD, the quality of our spending is letting us down. 

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Leggett says we're in the bottom four in the efficiency we get from infrastructure, and how we manage our assets is also poor. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Infrastructure Commission's got to report out this morning. It says
we're about in the right place at the moment, or
at least on par with other OECD countries in terms
of our infrastructure, which might surprise some people. However, they
do caution that future investment is needed. It's looked at
population changes and what we could need with a change
in climate and natural hazards to secure our infrastructure long term.

(00:24):
Nick Leggett is Infrastructure New Zealand's chief executive. He's with
us this morning. Hey Nick, Hello Ryan, Good to have
you on the show again. This is interesting that they're
saying we're basically on par and well compared to the
media and OECD country We have a typical amount of
physical infrastructure per capita. Is that surprising.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
It's not surprising because we know that on the per
capita we spend around about what other OECD nation spend.
But it's not what or how much we spend, it's
the quality of the spend and what we get for
it that is our problem. We're in the bottom four
in terms of the efficiency we get from our infrastructure

(01:04):
and the way we manage our assets. That's poor as well,
and I think key Wes can probably feel that they
know we've got big challenges and water. They know that
our roading and rail networks have not been well maintained,
and that's really the key. We have a bit of
a set and forget attitude in this country where it
comes to infrastructure. We build stuff, but we don't maintain it,
and a big chunk of what we call our infrastructure

(01:26):
deficit is actually that failure to invest in those assets
we've already got. The other thing Ryan about this is,
you know, it does show us that there are challenges
long term and that actually as a country we're pretty
low in terms of where we rank on the scale
of infrastructure overall. And of course these are different measures.

(01:46):
There's some good stuff in here. I think the most
important thing is that it says that long term we've
got to be thinking about the factors are going to
influence what sort of country we become and infrastructure using viewers.
New Zealand needs a vision. It needs to know what
kind of country it aspires to be. That is, how

(02:06):
many people we're going to have, where they're going to live.
What's the sort of competitive advantage that we need in
our economy that we're going to be able to sell
things to the rest of the world effectively. We're going
to be competitive, We're going to be really productive. Now,
infrastructure is the means to getting there, but you've got
to have a really clear united bi partisan picture, as

(02:26):
other successful small countries have done.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
And we know we know that. But there is some hope,
right the National Infrastructure Agency is going to kick off
what December. Hopefully that will bring everyone around the table
and we'll be come by. Just one quick question for you.
Our birth rates going down, Immigration will drive our population increase.
Do we need a bipart as an immigration plan so

(02:50):
that we have certainty over the flow?

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, I think that flow and certainty are two very
good points where it comes to infrastructure as well. You've
got to know how where your population's going, right, because
you need to be able to estimate and plan and build.
The reason we don't get that efficiency out of our spend.
You know, we're in the bottom four countries and the
OECD is because the pipeline keeps getting cut. When there's

(03:16):
a change of government, so the industry scales up because
they've got some certainty for the next couple of years
and the new government will come in and change the priorities.
What we've got to do is get consistency. We're a
small country and a small market. When you stop work,
you take capacity out of the market, people go elsewhere,
and it takes money and time to build that back up.

(03:37):
What bipartisanship will get us as a nation is a
bit more security and a bit more forward planning, so
the pipeline can be a bit more even, and I
think that's what the Infrastructure Commission is building towards. What
we've got to do is demand that of both of
our major political parties, because we shouldn't politicize stuff that
really isn't party political. This is about good infrastructure that

(03:59):
keeps you Zealand move and keeps U Zealand healthy and safe.

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Nick, thanks so much for your time this morning. Nick Leggett,
who is with US Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive. For
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