Land Information Minister, Chris Penk, today announced the Government will review the Public Works Act in a bid to improve productivity.
The Minister said New Zealand had a widely acknowledged infrastructure deficit, “which is holding us back socially, economically and environmentally.
“If we want to improve our productivity and lift our standard of living, we need to fix our pipes, increase the capacity of our schools and hospitals and build more houses, roads and renewable energy sources,” he said.
The Public Works Act has not been substantially amended since 1988 and is no longer fit-for-purpose, said Mr Penk.
“It is time to make changes to improve its fairness and efficiency,” he said.
“An independent expert advisory panel has carried out a targeted review and identified instances where the Act lacks clarity and commonsense.
“For example, all infrastructure projects that use the Act must meet a high threshold of being of ‘national and regional significance’. While a high threshold is important for protecting private property rights, there are many worthy and necessary projects that are vital for a particular region or community but may not be nationally significant.
“Similarly, building large-scale modern infrastructure often creates a knock-on effect where existing infrastructure must be upgraded or moved to accommodate the new project. For example, a new state highway often requires new regional roads to connect to it. Or widening a road may mean moving power pylons.
“This necessitates working across government agencies at both a central and regional level and acquiring land for direct and indirect purposes, which the current Act poorly enables.
“If we can make it simpler to acquire land for critical projects, then we reduce the likelihood of budget blow-outs and delays and can get on with growing our economy and delivering the public services Kiwis deserve.
“I’m looking forward to considering the review’s findings and recommendations in more detail and expect to announce policy decisions about changes to the Act by the end of the year, with a view of the Public Works Act Amendment Bill being introduced to Parliament in mid-2025,” Mr Penk said.
