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Funding gap bites Pressure is building on how major projects will be paid for, with funding shortfalls, workforce loss and political uncertainty weighing on Waikato’s infrastructure pipeline, writes Mary Anne Gill.
O
ne major Waikato transport project is facing an uncertain future, with tolling emerging as a likely solution as questions grow over how New Zealand will fund its next wave of infrastructure. The country currently only has three toll roads, two of them in nearby Tauranga, putting a spotlight on how any expansion of tolling could affect Waikato motorists and businesses. In a wide-ranging interview at the Āpōpō Congress in Hamilton last month, the national body representing infrastructure asset management professionals, Labour infrastructure spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said his party would back projects already underway and funded. That included Cambridge to Piarere – which got $1.77 billion in last month's Budget - but he stopped short of support for Southern Links. “If it’s underway and it’s funded, we will honour it,” he said. “If it’s not, then we’ll look at it, but we can’t make a commitment if it hasn’t been funded.” Southern Links, long seen
as a key piece of the southern Waikato growth corridor, remains unfunded, placing it firmly in the uncertain category regardless of the next government. McAnulty said the wider issue is a significant funding gap across the Roads of National Significance programme, which he estimates at about $30 billion. That shortfall, combined with rising construction costs and pressure on public finances, is creating growing unease across the infrastructure sector, particularly for contractors and suppliers planning long-term investment. For Waikato businesses, the stakes are high. The region is positioning itself as a logistics hub, with inland ports, freight links and industrial growth all dependent on reliable state highway connections. “We definitely recognise strategic assets and how they can open up a region,” McAnulty said. But he warned against announcing projects without secure funding or a clear delivery plan. “People are sick and tired of the stop, start, carry on.” That uncertainty is now
being felt beyond project timelines, with workforce impacts emerging as a growing concern. Skilled workers,
including apprentices trained in recent years, are leaving New Zealand for more stable opportunities overseas, he
said. “Many of them have now left to Australia because of the uncertainty in the
construction space,” he said. The issue of how projects are funded is also front CO NT I NU ED O N PAGE 5
Waikato surgeon honoured
Waikato Hospital paediatric surgeon Udaya Samarakkody has become a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Honours. She has spent more than 30 years saving Waikato children as a consultant surgeon and urologist and trained more than 50 surgeons, published widely, and built an outreach service across the Midland region to lift equity of surgical care for rural and Māori tamariki. A cofounder and co-chair of the Sri Lankan Doctors and Dentists Association, she also leads Sri Lanka Friendship Society Waikato programmes for Hamilton’s Sri Lankan community. She is pictured with husband Ruwan Fernando at their Tamahere home. Read more, and about other recipients including Waikato University chancellor Susan Hassall who becomes a Dame, on page 14. Photo Mary Anne Gill
Procuta Associates U r b a n + A rc h i t e ctu re 07 839 6521 www.paua pauaarchitects.co.nz T H E ‘ R E D S H E D ’ FA R M M A N AG E R ’S H O U S E