Opportunity seeks law for New Zealand infrastructure plan

The Opportunity Party has launched an intergenerational infrastructure policy centred on putting New Zealand's 30-year infrastructure plan into law.

The package would require 60% of infrastructure spending to go to maintenance and renewal, and create a new infrastructure fund intended to raise up to USD $60 billion over 10 years.

The party says the plan is designed to stop frequent shifts in infrastructure priorities between governments and give longer-term weight to the project pipeline set out in the national plan published by Te Waihanga.

New Zealand's first 30-year National Infrastructure Plan was launched earlier this year. Opportunity says the Government accepted all of its recommendations, with support from Labour and the Greens.

Three pillars

The proposal is built around three main measures. The first would put the 30-year plan and its pipeline on a cross-party footing, elevate Te Waihanga into an independent National Infrastructure Agency, and introduce public progress scorecards after 100 days, 12 months, and three years.

The second would direct most infrastructure spending towards maintaining and renewing existing assets. It would also require every public asset owner to hold an asset register and management plan, while improving procurement and project planning skills across government departments.

The third focuses on project funding. Opportunity says it would borrow at Crown rates rather than rely on private finance, while broadening the funding options available to councils through measures including congestion charging, visitor levies, and value capture.

In outlining the case for the policy, Qiulae Wong pointed to what the party sees as a mismatch between the lifespan of public assets and the short electoral cycle that shapes infrastructure decisions.

“For decades we've run fifty-year assets on three-year political cycles; cancelling each other's projects, prioritising ribbon-cutting new projects over maintenance, and passing the infrastructure bill to our kids. It's time to plan and build for the future,” said Qiulae Wong, Leader, Opportunity.

Spending mix

Opportunity says the programme would lift infrastructure investment from about 5% to 6% of gross domestic product to between 6% and 7%, while keeping interest costs below 1% of gross domestic product.

The party argues a larger maintenance share is needed because existing public assets have deteriorated while governments have continued to favour new projects. It also says a more structured approach to planning would help reduce cancellation risk when administrations change.

Wong said the support already shown for the national infrastructure plan had created a rare opening for a more durable framework.

“Agreement that broad comes along once in a generation. As the only party that can work constructively with the left and right blocs, we consider it our job to make that agreement stick, through the next election and the ten after it,” said Wong.

Borrowing model

The proposed Infrastructure Fund would raise as much as USD $60 billion over a decade. The party says the borrowing would be measured and supported by New Zealand's public balance sheet.

Its approach favours state borrowing costs over private project finance, reflecting its view that long-life public assets should be financed more directly through central government. The policy also focuses on councils by proposing additional revenue tools to support local infrastructure works.

Opportunity has linked the infrastructure package to its wider positions on energy, climate, and housing, arguing that these policy areas are tied to long-term built environment pressures in New Zealand.

“This is careful borrowing against one of the strongest balance sheets in the developed world, for assets that will serve us for a century,” said Wong.