Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau chief executive Dr Richard Templer welcomed infrastructure minister Hon Chris Bishop’s recent announcement that a new infrastructure agency would be in place from in December.
“Aotearoa needs strong infrastructure management, and it needs certainty around when the projects will be delivered,” Templar says.
“A National Infrastructure Agency that oversees public infrastructure delivery is a welcome development.”
In addition, the Infrastructure Commission is developing a 30-year National Infrastructure Plan, which is due for release at the end of 2025.
New Zealand has seen engineers heading offshore due to a lack of publicly-funded infrastructure projects. Now, Templer is hopeful these initiatives will help projects get started soon, and that there will be consistent management of the pipeline of infrastructure projects and workforce needed to ensure their delivery.
Templer also hopes that the National Infrastructure Plan will receive bipartisan support to ensure public infrastructure initiatives have the commitment of successive governments.
“Any move to shore up the pipeline of projects and investment is positive, which is why I think these announcements are promising,” he says.
• Engineering New Zealand is New Zealand’s professional body for engineers, with some 22,000 members. It represents — and regulates — its members, and is the registration authority for Chartered Professional Engineers.
