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National wants to create a state-run “National Infrastructure Bank” to finance central and local government infrastructure projects.
Eager to point out the failures of the government’s KiwiBuild and Auckland light rail, national leader Judith Collins announced Wednesday her party’s intention to create a new crown financial institution that would fund and advise on government infrastructure projects.
The “National Infrastructure Bank” would administer the party’s pledged infrastructure spending of $ 35 billion, would be comprised of existing Crown agencies, and would administer loans issued by the current Government’s Provincial Growth Fund.
“A key part of National’s plan to deal with the current economic and jobs crisis is to deliver world-class infrastructure… To do that we have to invest, and every dollar borrowed must be spent wisely on projects that improve our economy and build productivity, ”Collins said.
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Collins and his MPs accused the government of being incompetent management of infrastructure projects, saying such an infrastructure bank would work alongside the existing Infrastructure Commission, which focuses on the project portfolio, to provide financing to the Projects.
The new institution would be made up of Crown Infrastructure Partners, the Green Investment Finance fund and Crown Irrigation Investments.
The bank would take its core financing from the $ 8 million and $ 5 million annually granted to Crown Infrastructure Partners and the Green Investment Finance fund, respectively.
It would be tasked with ensuring that the government gets “good value for money” from infrastructure financing, developing investment models that attract money from the private sector, and running public-private partnership projects such as Transmission Gully.
Bank-financed projects could include tripod infrastructure, toll roads in collaboration with the New Zealand Transportation Agency, and co-financing models for school infrastructure.
National has promised to spend $ 31 billion on transportation projects and $ 4.8 billion on school infrastructure spending.
Collins said the bank could attract investment from ACC, NZSuper Fund, iwi and Kiwisaver suppliers.
“The government I lead will invest in New Zealand’s largest infrastructure program, which includes $ 31 billion to upgrade our transportation networks and decongest our cities, $ 4.8 billion to repair our schools, and more investment to improve infrastructure. health care “.
The party’s infrastructure spokesman, Chris Bishop, said the Labor-led government has been clumsy in its approach to infrastructure.
“Just look at the Provincial Growth Fund, the lack of delivery in the Green Investment Fund, and the lack of clarity on ready-to-go infrastructure projects. The loans have been repaid without any plan or purpose, ”he said.
“Our infrastructure bank will act as a careful steward of our infrastructure program, providing vital leadership and capacity in the public sector as these intergenerational assets develop.”