The year has gotten off to a busy start, with several important submissions due.
Legislation and Other Submissions
Infrastructure New Zealand (INZ) has made a submission on the long-awaited resource management reform bills, the Planning Bill and the Natural Environment Bill. While broadly supportive of the reforms, INZ has posed questions to the Select Committee regarding the implementation of the new legislation, and the way they interact, as well as concerns about the strong ministerial oversight. Our focus has been on system stewardship and implementation, ensuring the reforms are proactive in enabling infrastructure, deliver coherent outcomes regionally and nationally and provide certainty while being adaptable to future needs. INZ looks forward to the next stage of the Select Committee process.
A submission has also been made on the Public Works Amendment Bill, which aims to modernise the land acquisition system, improving infrastructure delivery and increasing certainty by removing delays. INZ is supportive of the direction of the amendments but stressed the importance of ensuring that landowners are adequately compensated for losses both monetary and otherwise.
INZ has also made a submission on the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill, supporting the proposed changes intended to improve how infrastructure projects are funded and financed. Feedback was offered on how the Bill could better support infrastructure investment, housing delivery, and efficient use of the IFF model.
The Simplifying Local Government Draft Proposal is an initiative to reform local government, aiming to streamline systems with the creation of Combined Territories Boards (CTBs) to simplify regional council structures. CTBs will then be required to develop Regional Reorganisation Plans, setting out how councils can deliver services more efficiently and effectively. These plans will be required to reflect local needs and meet a set of national standards.
You can view all INZ’s submissions here.
Connecting Canterbury
This month, CE Nick Leggett and Simpson Grierson Infrastructure Partner Catherine Shipton attended the Canterbury Mayoral Forum to deliver a new White Paper, Connecting Canterbury: Strengthening Infrastructure for Growth. The report calls for coordinated, long-term collaboration between central and local government, iwi and the private sector, using tools such as regional programmes, alternative funding models and strong asset management standards to future-proof Canterbury’s infrastructure. You can read the full White Paper here.
Events
Our events calendar has been full, with INZ hosting three workshops in Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington as we prepared our submission on the Resource Management reforms. These workshops allowed us to consult with over 100 practitioners, infrastructure providers, planners, engineers, lawyers, and sector leaders, hearing firsthand what changes are necessary to enable infrastructure delivery while continuing to protect the environment. These discussions provided valuable insight and helped inform our submission on the proposed reform, the Planning and Natural Environment Bills. We are grateful to everyone who participated for their time and input and appreciate the constructive discussion and the range of perspectives shared across the groups. INZ looks forward to continuing to work with members as the reforms progress.
With adverse weather events increasing, it has become clear once again that infrastructure resilience is not a future concern, but a present-day challenge with social, economic and environmental consequences. In partnership with Downer and Dentons, INZ hosted Infrastructure Under Pressure: Adapting New Zealand’s Infrastructure for a Changing Climate, where leaders from across the infrastructure sector were able to explore what resilience really means in practice, how infrastructure systems respond under stress, where adaptation and mitigation efforts should be prioritised and how decision-makers can balance long-term resilience and short-term pressures. This was an important and timely discussion, grounded in new research from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research developed in partnership with Downer through the Infrastructure Resilience Index. We look forward to continuing these important discussions.
Senior Leaders’ Breakfast: Inside the Polls on the Road to Election 2026
INZ partnered with The Post and Freshwater Strategy to share insights from our latest polling on what New Zealanders are really thinking. Attendees heard from Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown on his take on infrastructure and related issues as we head into an election year. You can view some of the headline numbers here, as well as an in-depth analysis of results here.
Welcoming New Members
Nau mai haere mai, welcome, to our new Infrastructure New Zealand members. We’re so glad to have you on board and look forward to continuing to engage with you.
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