Civil Contractors New Zealand has welcomed the Government’s 2025 Budget announcement to invest in infrastructure, but warns the benefits will be limited unless immediate action is taken to reduce the delays between project announcements and shovels in the ground.
The association said the current infrastructure pipeline was promising in principle, but noted many businesses were downsizing or exiting the market due to infrastructure announcements taking too long to reach the construction stage.
“Our members are responsible for delivering the roads, water infrastructure, and energy networks New Zealanders depend on. They are ready and willing to get shovels in the ground, but projects remain stalled in planning or bogged down in consenting processes,” said CCNZ Chief Executive Alan Pollard.
“While the Government has ensured room in its fiscal plan for emerging infrastructure needs, we need physical works coming online now so we can retain the industry experience our nation needs to address the infrastructure deficit the government has committed to fixing.”
He said projects recently announced by the Government such as Riverlink, Tauriko West and Mill Road were positive, and the industry looked forward to getting to starting work on these important infrastructure works, in addition to proposed smaller works packages.
“It would be a major missed opportunity if the infrastructure pipeline investment of $6.8 billion in capital infrastructure projects in Budget 2025 becomes a pipe dream because the country has been left with a skeleton workforce,” Mr Pollard said.
“Without a steady stream of projects, we risk not only losing skilled workers and businesses, but also the capacity to train the next generation. Many contractors are already being forced to consider scaling down or seeking opportunities overseas.”
The government’s investment in the tertiary system, including a boost in funding rates for engineering and trades was also welcome news, Mr Pollard said.
“We’re pleased to see Government acknowledge construction, engineering, and trades as priority investment areas. We know on-the-job training is the most effective way to develop a highly skilled domestic workforce, however that can’t happen if jobs aren’t available.”
Improving pathways for skilled overseas workers will help to train and bolster our domestic workforce, retaining and developing our domestic workforce is crucial to ensuring long-term capacity, he said.
“We support efforts to bring in skilled workers from offshore, but we’re pleased to see the government has not lost sight of the urgent need to retain and grow our local workforce”.