The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission recently asked New Zealanders what they think is fair when it comes to paying for infrastructure services such as roads, drinking water and electricity.
This is part of the commission’s research programme that is looking at what’s fair when it comes to providing and paying for infrastructure in New Zealand.
A total of 3002 New Zealanders over the age of 18 took part in the research. The data was post-weighted, so the final sample is representative of New Zealanders aged 18-plus by age, gender, ethnicity and region. The survey was conducted by Kantar Public.
Key findings were:
• Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72%) think it’s fair that what households pay for water should be based on what a household uses.
Decision-makers have the opportunity to harness this broad support for use-based charging as a fair means of paying for water, and to adopt volumetric charging where it is not already in place.
This could be done by incorporating a low fixed charge for basic needs, and the discretion to have lower charges for some households.
• Despite most respondents (65%) not viewing congestion charging as a fair way of charging for road use at peak times, Aucklanders were more likely to think it was fair (31%) than those from elsewhere (22%).
This is comparable to the levels of public acceptance of time-of-use charging in cities overseas before congestion charging was introduced.
• Over half (55% to 60%) of survey respondents did not think it was fair for households to pay for services based on the cost to supply.
New Zealand has a longstanding approach that everyone should have access to infrastructure services, regardless of where they live. This includes rural and remote areas where the cost of supply is higher or where the population is too small to meet the costs.
But there are some tough decisions for the future about who should bear the cost of, for example, rebuilding infrastructure in remote communities after damage from extreme weather events, or in adapting infrastructure to be resilient in the face of climate change.
For more survey insights, visit https://tewaihanga.govt.nz/our-work/research-insights/new-zealanders-views-on-what-s-fair-when-it-comes-to-paying-for-infrastructure.
