Labour infrastructure policy: No cancelling contracted or funded projects
New Zealand Labour Party infrastructure spokesman Kieran McAnulty has pledged that a future Labour government would not cancel major infrastructure projects that are already contracted or funded. The policy aims to end the 'stop-start' cycle of project cancellations that the party argues wastes taxpayer money and creates uncertainty for the construction industry.
Why it matters
This policy addresses the economic inefficiency and political instability inherent in long-term infrastructure planning, which often suffers from shifting priorities between election cycles.
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Labour's Infrastructure spokesman Kieran McAnulty. Photo/Warren Buckland
If there’s one thing New Zealand has become far too good at, it’s changing its mind about infrastructure.
A road gets announced. A rail project gets cancelled. A public transport plan gets redesigned. A new government comes in and decides it knows better than the last one. Years disappear, costs go through the roof, and the people waiting for the infrastructure are left wondering whether it’ll ever happen.
Whether you’re sitting in traffic in Auckland, waiting for safer roads in the Wairarapa, trying to move freight through the regions, or relying on ageing water infrastructure, you don’t care which party gets the credit. You just want the job done.
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