Infrastructure News: Election 2023

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ELECTION 2023 EDITION

SEEING PAST THE PROJECT LOLLY SCRAMBLE

ELECTION 2023

Safer, faster, multipurpose telehandlers

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The introduction of game changing 360-degree rotating telehandlers looks set to disrupt the infrastructure, civil and construction industries

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he days of needing on site a mobile crane, a boom lift or other types of elevated work platforms, a forklift and an excavator are numbered - one machine can do it all.

Rotating telehandlers may look a lot like their conventional cousins, but they are very different.

Their arrival on New Zealand work sites has completely changed the way project management is planned and the way on2

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site work is completed in a safer and faster manner.

They load material, pick it up, drive to where it’s needed and then unload.

The rotating telehandler can then pick the load, rotate and place the materials where needed.

The concept originated in Europe, where the majority of urban construction sites are very compact and do not allow room for traditional telehandlers.

“Rotating telehandlers have taken North Ameri-

The world’s highest rotating telehandler – RTH6.51 (six-ton lift) has an impressive 51-metre reach (not pictured) ca by storm and over the past 18 months have been attracting a lot of attention in New Zealand,” says APS general manager Darren Boon, agents for Magni, one of the most technologically advanced brands of rotating telehandlers in the world.

“As technology has improved so has the reach and lifting capacity of these

type of machines. On a multi-level construction site, a machine with a five-tonne lift and 26-metre reach would usually have been the standard,” says Boon.

“Now machines are available for bigger projects with heavy lift capability up to 13 tonnes and machines with a reach of 51 metres.”

ELECTION 2023

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Magni recognised early that the biggest trend in the industry is to lift safer, higher and heavier

MAGNI ROTATING TELEHANDLERS - EFFICIENCY

Proven efficiency

Replacing a tower crane with a rotating telehandler.

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n Auckland private building company has purchased a Magni rotating telehandler in favour of hiring a tower crane for the construction of a four storey apartment block in West Auckland.

The rotating telehandler meets most of their lifting requirements for the crane work, with a larger mobile crane only being bought in to lift the heavy pre-cast panels. Having the ability

to easily swap attachments between winch and a set of forks the machine can pick and carry around the building site for more efficient lifting or the unloading of trucks.

All deliveries from the building supplier can be ordered on flat-deck trucks which means quicker delivers and savings of up to $150 per delivery by not waiting for Hiab/crane truck to become available.

MAGNI ROTATING TELEHANDLERS - SAFETY

The safety of the operator and people nearby is paramount The Load Movement Indicator (LMI) system is a load limit device. It is fitted as standard on all Magni telescopic handlers (RTH, TH and HTH ranges). It is made up of a rotation sensor, stabiliser cable reel, lifting cylinder pressure sensors and the LMI safety control board. Together, these components provide the operator with the best real-time load chart. This system continuously analyses the spatial positioning of the load and stores specific load charts for each attachment, displaying the correct load chart based on the machine’s working configuration.

The LMI system constantly monitors the movements of the machine to avoid any type of overload.

If the system detects operating inconsistencies, it interrupts all aggravating movements, allowing only safe maneuvers (boom retraction and load release).

This prevents operator error causing serious injury to themselves and nearby staff.

Every telehandler is equipped with the R.F.ID automatic attachment recognition system on the boom head. Whenever a new attachment is fitted to the machine it is recognised automatically and the display shows the corresponding load chart.

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ELECTION 2023

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he discussion and debate of different views are a healthy part of democracy, so when some views are not represented in parliament, this can give rise to unrest and division. Last year’s month-long protest outside parliament may be a sign of things to come unless there is reform to our electoral system.

Of the 2,886,427 votes cast in the 2020 election, 225,190 of those went to parties which failed to meet the 5% threshold to get into parliament. That is more than the entire population of Wellington City without a party to represent them in the Beehive.

The Independent Electoral Review is set to put forward a package of recommendations to the Government in November. In its interim report, one of those recommendations is to lower the party vote threshold to 3.5% from the 5% threshold which was set when New Zealand’s population was much smaller.

“Lowering the threshold will broaden representation by allowing more minor parties into parliament, while still allowing for the formation of stable parliaments and effective governments,” the review panel says.

However, a 3.5% threshold would not have made a material difference in the last election, so perhaps there is an argument to take this proposal further and lower it more substantially, or abolish the threshold altogether.

Either way, more people will vote for their favoured party if there is a higher chance of them getting into parliament, giving us greater representation and a more democratic parliament.

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Is our electoral system undemocratic In the last election, more than 200,000 New Zealanders’ votes did not count toward the final result – an independent review is expected to call for changes which will give more people a voice in parliament In conjunction with this, the review also recommends abolishing the one-electorate seat threshold.

“Currently, a party that wins an electorate is entitled to its share of list seats as well, even if it did not meet the party vote threshold. We have concluded that this gives voters in some electorates more say than voters in other electorates about which parties get represented in parliament,” the panel says.

It also speaks about overhang seats, where if a party wins more electorate seats than its share of the party vote would otherwise have entitled it to.

“When this happens, that

party keeps all the electorate seats it has won, but the number of list seats allocated to other parties is increased until the next election. This keeps parliament in proportion to the party vote. We recommend removing these extra seats for other parties. Instead, fewer list seats should be allocated. We only recommend this change in conjunction with removing the one-electorate seat threshold so as to limit the number of overhang seats.

“We [also]propose fixing the ratio of electorate and list seats at 60:40 with an additional proviso that the size of parliament should always be uneven to avoid hung parliaments. The ef-

fect of this recommendation would be that parliament would increase gradually in size over time in proportion to changes in our population.”

The review also makes recommendations around funding, including a cap of $30,000 on private donations and $500 on anonymous donations.

“We [also]recommend that only individuals on the electoral roll should be able to loan or donate to parties and candidates. All entities, whether trusts, companies, trade unions, iwi, hapū, or unincorporated societies should be prohibited from providing funding.”

Read the full report

ELECTION 2023

Contents 2 4 6 7 8 10

Safer, faster, multi-purpose telehandlers

12

Construction partnership aims to accelerate growth sectorwide

13 15

How BIM Will Impact Your Future Infrastructure Projects

17

Is our electoral system undemocratic Would a land value tax incentivise housing growth

60

NZ workplace fatality rate is double Australia’s

62

Physical threats & abuse widespread in construction

64

How to attract, retain and support good staff

67

Industry leader in soft fall protection on construction sites

68

Was the Covid-19 wage subsidy successful?

70

Are you maximising the benefits of your AEP?

Site Safe New Zealand launch VR training courses for New Zealand’s construction industry

72

The great unlearning

19 22

Unpacking the buzzword ‘sustainability’

74

The perfect combination of quality assurance, high stock

23

How will new energy standards affect Australia’s building sector?

25

Shortsightedness and poor planning lead to property buyouts

26

Extreme weather undermines confidence in country’s infrastructure

28 30 32 33 39 44 45

NIWA invests $5m in extreme weather research

48

Legislative tweak opens door for inter-regional public transport

50 52 54 56 58

$60m inland port welcomes first freight trains

New Zealand cities losing their leaves National’s new housing strategy ‘a mixed bag’ Development activity falling as headwinds intensify

A collaborative way forward for infrastructure & construction

Kiwi innovation leading the way in concrete slab insulation

levels and expertise

No better investment than chemical safety training Stronger local government, less centralisation 23 recommendations for the next government Infrastructure NZ releases policy positions What can we learn from Auckland’s City Rail Link Labour’s Auckland harbour crossing ‘absurd’

Editor Michael Curreen +64 21 029 20234

Publisher Mike Bishara +64 27 564 7779

michael@infrastructurebuild.com

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Graphic Designer Rachel Loo

Administration Manager Anita Feria +64 27 444 1573

Hard work gets results Lessons from Japan in waste to energy Chemical safety relies on meaningful cooperation Ensuring adequate respiratory protection

Original material published online and in this magazine is copyright, but may be reproduced providing permission is obtained from the editor and acknowledgement given to Media Solutions. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and may not necessarily be those of Media Solutions Ltd.

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Published by Media Solutions Ltd PO Box 503, Whangaparaoa Auckland 0943 09 428 7456

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ELECTION 2023

Would a land value tax incentivise housing growth A 0.75% tax on urban residential land as proposed by the Opportunities Party (TOP) to help fund income tax relief could come with the added benefit of helping solve New Zealand’s housing shortage

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he value of land is collectively and publicly created, Strong Towns’ Rick Rybeck writes.

But private landowners can appropriate this publicly-created value regardless of whether or not they put it to productive use. In other words, they don’t have to contribute to the good party going on around them.

“Speculation inflates land prices near existing infrastructure, thereby pushing development to cheaper (but more remote and less productive) sites.

This destroys farmland, and it requires the wasteful duplication of expensive infrastructure, increasing tax burdens,” Rybeck writes.

Land speculation is often referred to as “real estate investment”, he says. But “investment” is the creation of something new that enhances future production. Buying and selling land creates nothing; it’s what you do on the land that creates value. Land speculation in itself is just gambling. It is betting that the work of the community will enhance land values, without contributing to that 6

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enhancement.

Rybeck says a land value tax (LVT) would return the value of land to the communities that created it, recycling that value to fund public needs like infrastructure creation, operation and maintenance. The benefits are several: • LVT makes land speculation less profitable and reduces the incentive for fringe suburban development.

• Shifting the property tax off of building values and onto land values can make both buildings and land less expensive, thereby making housing more affordable while fostering business growth and employment.

• Communities that have implemented this reform have outperformed comparable communities using the traditional property tax.

Rybeck does point out that most things that we’re familiar with are produced – if we tax them, production

falls and prices rise. Therefore, many assume that if we tax land, its price will rise.

“But land taxes don’t reduce the amount of land.

Taxing land values reduces the benefits of land ownership. This reduces land prices,” he writes.

LVT enjoys broad support among economists. Yet few places are implementing it, which raises the question: Why hasn’t land value taxation been implemented more widely?

World Economic Forum Senior Writer Victoria Masterton reports of one example in the United States in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which started using land taxes in its system in 1975.

Land was initially taxed at double the rate of buildings.

Now land is taxed at six times the rate of buildings.

“This is believed to be behind improvements that have revitalized the city,” Masterton writes.

“The number of empty buildings has fallen, investment and jobs have grown and Harrisburg has benefitted from greater tax revenues.”

Masterton explains that with property taxes (or council rates), owners who improve their properties can be taxed more, which disincentivises investment.

With land taxes, property improvements aren’t taxed.

Owners are encouraged to make improvements, to increase returns from their land.

“This means the owner of a vacant plot of land would pay the same amount of taxes as a neighbouring owner with a block of apartments on their land.

“Land value tax incentivises landowners with empty or run-down buildings to get them back into use.

They won’t be taxed on these improvements. And the money they might make through rents will help cover their land tax bill,” Masterton writes.

“As a result, communities might see the supply of housing in their area increase. Neighbourhoods which previously had lots of empty properties could be revitalised.”

TOP expects an annual 0.75% LVT in New Zealand to generate $7 billion a year, which it would use to fund $5.8 billion of income tax cuts and a Teal Card scheme to support young New Zealanders who are worse off than the previous generation.

The party says its income tax relief would often outweigh costs potentially being passed on to renters and ultimately an increase in the stock of rentals as a result of the tax would drive down rent prices. Commercial, rural, conservation and Māori land would be excluded from the policy, and superannuants could opt to defer payment until there is a change in ownership of the property.

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lanning for and providing urban green spaces of any description, public and private, should not be optional,” the Commissioner says in a new report.

“The environmental services green spaces provide – such as temperature regulation, stormwater management, air filtration and habitat provision – don’t just benefit individuals. They benefit everyone around them. They are a form of infrastructure every bit as important as pipes and roads.

“The ability of our trees and parks to filter stormwater flows and cool their immediate surroundings can mitigate some of the heat and excess water that impervious surfaces generate.

These services will be in even higher demand as our cities become hotter and more subject to extreme rain events in a changing climate.”

The Commissioner’s report, Are we building harder, hotter cities? The vital importance of urban green spaces, presents new data on how public and private green space in Auckland, Hamilton and Greater Wellington has evolved over the decades.

“New Zealand cities are currently well-endowed with green space, though some suburbs are greener than others. But our data show that urban green space has been declining over time. Between 1980 and 2016, green space per person fell by at least 30% in Auckland, and at least 20% in Hamilton. Nearly all of this loss occurred on private residential land,” the Commissioner says.

The report found two main factors have driven this trend. The first is infill development – the conver-

New Zealand cities losing their leaves As we densify our cities to accommodate population growth, we must not lose sight of the environmental benefits that urban green space provides, warns the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton sion of yards and sections into houses and driveways in existing urban areas. The second is a shift towards larger houses on smaller sections in new subdivisions.

Many councils are struggling to improve the quality and availability of public green spaces to compensate for the loss of private yards and gardens.

The trends documented in this report were already playing out before recent Government moves to promote further intensification. The Medium Density Residential Standards will place particular pressure on private residential green space in years to come.

The Commissioner offers several proposals to ensure that the contribution green space can make to urban environments is fully accounted for in future urban design.

One solution lies in building upwards rather than via low-rise infill development.

Building upwards uses urban land more efficiently and reduces pressure to develop green spaces elsewhere in the city.

More attention could also be given to counteracting the loss of private yards and gardens by improving nearby public green space.

In the short term, this could be done by adding patches of larger shrubs and trees in local parks, road reserves and other neglected corners of public land.

The difficulty of retrofitting green space into existing neighbourhoods highlights the importance of adequately providing it from the outset in new subdivisions on the city fringe. Councils could take a more proactive approach to land acquisition for future parks and reserves to help achieve

this.

Green spaces provide benefits over potentially very long time horizons.

Looking forward, the ongoing shift towards more densely populated cities and the emerging impacts of climate change will very likely make urban parks, reserves, gardens, vegetation and street trees even more valuable.

The difficulty of re-establishing green space once lost makes it all the more important that planning and providing for urban green spaces is mandatory for local authorities just like it is for traditional ‘hard’ infrastructure. This could help avoid development decisions that create less liveable environments that we will have to live with – and in – forever.

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ELECTION 2023

National’s new housing strategy ‘a mixed bag’ Though National’s decision to somewhat back down on the Medium Density Residential Standards (MDRS) comes as a disappointment, there are some good new policies in this plan, Better things are possible author Malcolm McCracken writes

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t’s important to start with the primary outcome of a National-led government implementing this plan – the ability for Councils to opt-out of the MDRS. Instead, National plans to introduce ‘Land for Housing Growth Targets’ for Tier One and Two urban areas in New Zealand. This gives Councils the ability to opt out if they provide “30 years’ worth of developable housing capacity” in the short term, elsewhere through higher density in centres and walking catchments, or in greenfield developments.

This doesn’t go far enough. Many councils will not have to do much to meet 30 years of theoretical capacity in their district plan. It does not mean we will actually get the capacity where we need it, which is in the most central locations close to jobs, education and services. National’s plan provides an opportunity for councils to opt out of this if they face challenges from the existing residents.

Furthermore, full implementation of the MDRS in district plans, would almost deliver more than 30 years theoretical capacity.

For the development market to function effectively, there is a need for significantly more theoretical capacity, to ensure that enough financially feasible sites can be purchased and 8

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developed. As a headline, 30 years can seem to be enough but a majority of the supply will likely not be realised. Therefore, it needs to go further. To meet the 10-to-30-year demand will require significantly more capacity again. I think we should be going much further now and the MDRS, ideally with some improvements, would be a step in the right direction.

Secondly, this policy doesn’t necessarily ensure housing supply where it is required or ensure variety of typologies and sizes of dwelling can realistically be built to meet varied demand. We should be seeking to enable an abundance of housing capacity, which will support higher housing supply and choice, in terms of typology and location.

However, while they are backing down to some extent on the MDRS, which is disappointing, there are some good new policies in this plan.

Mixed-use development around rapid transit

Firstly, National intends to strengthen the NPS-UD requirement for councils to zone for at least six storeys in the walking catchments of rapid transit stations and major town and city centres, to enable mixed-use development.

This would be excellent.

Enabling mixed use development, particularly for retail and commercial floors to residential buildings is critical to supporting medium to high density living, with access to daily needs provided through proximity.

The only concern I have with this policy is its potential to slow down the “fast track” plan change processes underway to enact the NPS-UD. In the medium term, we should be aiming for small scale retail and commercial to be a permitted activity in all residential neighbourhoods to promote local living.

Removing greenfield subsidies

National also plan to require local councils to ensure that infrastructure for new greenfield development will be funded from rates and levies applied to the new development, instead of being subsidised through rates from other communities. As I have previously covered, given the incredibly high infrastructure costs of greenfield development, the current subsidies for greenfield development make little sense, when it also contributes to higher emissions from our transport system.

I think this would be a seriously positive climate perspective, as it could further shift demand towards urban intensification and allow

councils to concentrate on the existing urban area.

Strengthening central government powers and financing mechanisms

The second section of their policy focuses on infrastructure financing tools. All of which vary from fine to good. National plan to reform the Infrastructure Funding and Financing (IFF) Act, which enables the use of Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to raise debt and fund infrastructure. I have previously covered the use SPVs in Tauranga which was extremely positive in my view but is a rare example. It is not clear why there has not been greater uptake of this financing mechanism but National is proposing to put it all within the management of Crown Infrastructure Partners, in aim to simplify the process.

National also plans to introduce value capture mechanisms for major projects that unlock housing growth, as major projects tend to increase land values in the surrounding area to the benefit of existing land owners, at cost to the public. This could be really positive for major transport infrastructure projects and based on previous comments from other parties, this could have strong bipartisan support. My primary concern is the wording of

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An 8 storey, mixed-use development in Greenlane, Auckland with a small supermarket on the ground floor, shows exactly the sort of development we should be encouraging around our rapid transit stations. the document, which seems to suggest public transport infrastructure is only required for existing urban areas. If we are to have greenfield expansion of our major centres, this needs to include rapid transit.

The third section of Going for Housing Growth focuses on incentives for councils.

Build for Growth is a $1 Billion fund that will be distributed based on the number of building consents Councils issue above their 5-year average. This does offer a serious incentive for Councils with $25,000 for every dwelling they consent above average. According to National’s policy document, this means Auckland Council would have been eligible for a payment of $152 million last year, while Tauranga, who did not exceed their 5-year average, would not have been eligible for any payment.

This fund has a lot in common with the Infrastructure Acceleration Fund and in principle, I support the idea of incentives to shift Council’s to be pro-growth.

However, I worry this could end up favouring Councils who historically have not consented enough, whereas areas like Auckland, which

has much higher consent rates on the back of the Auckland Unitary Plan, may find it harder to surpass the historical average. Especially in a slowing market.

The funding for Build for Growth, seems to be proposed to be redistributed from various existing funds managed by Kāinga Ora. My key concern here is how this will limit the ability of Kāinga Ora developments to keep alive the medium to high rise construction market in a slowing housing market, which is impacting new build sales. It would also take funding which allows Kāinga Ora to buy new land, in towns and neighbourhoods where they don’t have existing land holdings, reducing the ability to provide social housing where it is needed.

National also say they will legislate to give central government reserve powers to rezone land where required to achieve Housing Growth Targets. This generally seems positive given the historical failings of local government and political blockade that can occur, like in Christchurch in 2022, where the Council refused to adopt the MDRS.

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is intended to balance the need for commercial and industrial land in greenfield areas. It could also create conflict with the (excellent) requirement for greenfield infrastructure to be self-funded.

The details are unclear on this from what is a high-level policy document.

Encouraging additional density in transport corridors would be great but the 30-year requirement is unlikely to be enough to push councils into any major changes.

Conclusion

In summary, providing the opt-out from the MDRS is likely to lead to a reduction in housing capacity and housing choice. I don’t think providing the choice coun-

cils will necessarily lead to more or better housing supply. However, there are some strong policies on mixed-use development, reducing public subsidy of greenfield development, and infrastructure financing, that would be positive if implemented. The best outcome for housing and climate would be an improved MDRS, alongside these more positive proposed policies from the National Party.

Malcolm McCracken is a Transport Planner with Sustainable Transport Consultancy, MRCagney.

Malcolm has diverse experience in transport planning & strategy, policy development, and transport and land-use integration. He is also currently undertaking a Masters in Public Policy at the Auckland University.

Better things are possible

Other changes

There are a number of other changes, here is a high level summary: • A “Refocused National Policy Statement on Highly Productive Land”. National plans to update the NPS-HPL to keep protection of the most productive soils (LUC 1 & 2), while allowing for LUC-3 category land to be opened up for development.

• Requiring future zoned greenfield land to be live zoned now.

It is unclear how this

Election 2023: what it means for housing and construction

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ELECTION 2023

Development activity falling as headwinds intensify Following an extended period of elevated development activity across New Zealand, Colliers expects new building construction to fall to its lowest levels since the Global Financial Crisis within the next 12 months

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confluence of mounting challenges has resulted in a marked slowdown in development activity over recent months.

A combination of factors such as higher interest rates, a more stringent lending environment, elevated build costs and a cooling economic backdrop, have increased the difficulty of achieving development feasibility.

However, the lack of building now will likely lead to availability constraints when conditions improve, 10 infrastructurenews.co.nz

repeating challenges of the past.

Constraints force developers to take a cautious approach The deceleration in activity can be attributed to a range of factors. The most prominent is the amplified cost of financing and reduced access to funding. Interest rates have surged at an unprecedented pace as the Reserve Bank seeks to curb inflation. Consequently, financiers have adopted a more cautious lending

stance, making it harder for developers to secure funds for their projects.

Another pivotal factor contributing to the slowdown is the substantial escalation of construction costs. Escalating material expenses, disruptions in supply chains, and a shortage of skilled labor have all driven up construction expenditures. The challenge of achieving project viability is compounded by the cooling economic climate, which renders an increasing number of businesses sensitive to rising rental

costs. This situation frequently compels developers to re-evaluate the feasibility of their projects, potentially resulting in delays or cancellations.

Data suggests activity could slow further Building consent data clearly illustrates a significant loss of momentum within the residential apartment and industrial sectors.

Measured over a sixmonth rolling period, consent issuance for apartment

ELECTION 2023 developments in New Zealand reached a cyclical peak in January 2023, with the approval of 2,793 apartments – the highest figure since May 2005.

Subsequently, consents have fallen sharply and by June this year were down by nearly 50%.

The cyclical peak for industrial sector consent issuance was reached in the six months ending March 2022, when the total floor area consented reached its highest level this century.

However, recent months have seen a substantial decline in new consents, with the June figure dropping by 37% from the peak.

While office and retail consents tend to be more volatile due to the significant impact of a few large projects which have longer development timeframes and lag in dataflows, other indicators unmistakably demonstrate the deceleration in development activity.

Recent data from Statistics New Zealand reveal a decline in ready mix concrete production, underscoring the sluggishness in the construction sector. In the year ending June 2023, production dropped by 4.2% compared to the record high of the preceding 12 months.

Quarterly figures depict an accelerating decline, with June 2023 production down by 10.9% year-on-year.

Anticipating future imbalances While the current slowdown poses challenges, a more profound shift might await New Zealand’s real estate landscape in the future. The slowdown in development, if sustained, could lead to a supply-demand imbalance, particularly within subsectors in which occupier demand

remains evident.

These supply-demand imbalances are likely to emerge first within the residential and industrial sectors followed by the prime end of the office mar-

cost-effective building technologies, including modular construction, holds substantial potential for increasing project feasibilities.

Demand for industrial

ket. This will clearly provide opportunities for experienced and well-financed developers.

premises has remained strong, particularly from an expanding logistics sector.

Despite this and regardless of rapidly rising rents, developers are encountering mounting challenges in rendering projects financially viable.

In addition to the general constraints discussed earlier, most established precincts are grappling with land shortages, resulting in significant value increases in recent years. Consequently, maximizing the utilization of land parcels has become increasingly crucial to make new projects feasible. This is being achieved by increasing cubic capacity rather than merely expanding floor areas. The rise in stud heights accompanies the adoption of automated loading and collection technologies, making taller racking systems feasible.

Feasibility for large-scale office projects remains a challenge given the economic backdrop and evolving work practices.

However, the demand for high-quality, environmentally sustainable premises in prime locations endures.

This demand continues

Emerging shortages to underpin development A sharp rebound in migration is bolstering demand for housing just as development slows, mirroring the situation which arose post the GFC which triggered a surge in property prices and rents, exacerbating affordability issues. Avoiding a repeat of this scenario will require collaboration between policymakers, developers, and investors.

Mitigating bureaucratic constraints and minimizing the financial burdens on developers would clearly be of benefit.

This could involve a comprehensive assessment of development levies, potentially considering temporary or permanent adjustments.

Stimulating investment in the Build-to-Rent sector by removing obstacles to overseas investment could significantly accelerate expansion within the sector.

Furthermore, embracing an escalated adoption of

to underpin development intentions, albeit with investors and developers adopting a longer-term outlook. This is exemplified by a recent joint venture partnership formed to invest in the regeneration of Auckland CBD’s Te Tōangaroa precinct. The collaboration includes Precinct Properties, PAG, and Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.

The joint venture will focus on repositioning assets and enhancing the Te Tōangaroa precinct. The land will remain under the ownership of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, while the investment partnership will hold a 123-year prepaid ground lease. This pre-payment mitigates uncertainties surrounding future ground rent increases, a concern that has impeded investment in premises located on leasehold land in other areas.

Momentum will return to New Zealand’s development cycle While the prevailing slowdown has some way to run yet, a return to an increased level of development will clearly occur in the future.

The convergence of factors that precipitated the current deceleration – from elevated costs and cautious financing to economic cooling – has led to a period of adjustment. However, history demonstrates that development cycles are intrinsic to the industry.

The combination of enduring demand, an easing of current constraints, and the increased adoption of innovative technology will lay the foundations for the cycle to shift once again, leading to a renewed upswing in development activity.

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he partnership seeks to accelerate growth and innovation across construction businesse-s of every size and stage.

As part of the agreement Callaghan Innovation will deliver several Accord initiatives through a new programme: Construction Activator.

The Construction Activator will bring together and build on existing business services supported by MBIE and Callaghan Innovation, such as the Regional Business Partner Network, Digital Boost and Business Mentors NZ, and offer an expanded, end-to-end business capability development programme that is targeted at construction businesses.

The Construction Activator will help to build collaborative construction business communities that drive connections, innovation, and business growth, as well as equipping business leaders with the skills and tools they need to improve business performance. The programme will be relevant for businesses at all stages, whether they are looking to accelerate their growth today, or make incremental improvements over time.

Making up seven per cent of our national GDP and employing 10 per cent of the national workforce, the construction sector is a significant contributor to the New Zealand economy. The sector has been identified by the Government as one of eight industries with the potential to contribute to a future, high-productivity, high-wage, low-emissions economy.

“We won’t see the real transformational shifts that the Construction Sector Accord is trying to achieve unless construction busi12 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Construction partnership aims to accelerate growth sectorwide The Construction Sector Accord and Callaghan Innovation have agreed to partner to address systemic challenges and build resilience across the construction sector nesses are able to scale up,” says Accord Steering Group Co-Chair, Andrew Crisp.

“Through this partnership with Callaghan Innovation, we will create a central hub where businesses can

“It’s hard for business leaders to think about longterm growth when forces beyond their control mean they need to focus solely on the day-to-day, and even business survival.

access tools and resources, learn from each other, and get support to innovate and grow. The opportunity to unlock the productivity challenges facing the sector is massive.”

Callaghan Innovation Chief Executive Stefan Korn says he is delighted to support the construction industry to overcome these challenges and position itself for future success.

“We’re looking forward to collaborating with business leaders, researchers and industry organisations to help construction businesses overcome these big challenges, while also taking advantage of the opportunities innovation offers to support industry transformation.”

Stefan Korn says the soon to be developed Construction Activator programme

will be central to Callaghan Innovation’s approach to driving transformation across the construction sector.

“We want to make the biggest impact we can and make it easy for industry to work with us, and our partners, who are so vital to achieving our shared goals for the construction sector.

“The Construction Activator programme will be a one-stop-shop for construction businesses looking to grow faster so they can reach their full potential. Over time the programme will also be pivotal to enabling an enduring, system-wide construction sector transformation.

“The challenges are significant but so are the opportunities. We look forward to the journey, together,” says Stefan Korn.

The partnership will get into action soon with live, in-person Connect Events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from mid September. More details will be announced soon.

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How BIM Will Impact Your Future Infrastructure Projects

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or nearly 40 years, building information modelling (BIM) has been a mainstay in architecture circles within the industry. But it’s only really gained ground in actual construction over the last two decades. If your company is among these near-future BIM adopters, what impact can you anticipate for your projects?

Financial efficiency with better use of capital project data Having to rely on traditional construction practices involving 2D drawings and decentralised project details can be very limiting. Think of all the data that starts rolling in from day one. And it continues to accumulate when the completed project has been handed over to the owner’s operations and facility management team.

It can be somewhat of a challenge, not to mention overwhelming, to track and understand everything.

Buy that’s where BIM can help. What often makes it stand out is the BIM model’s ability to link directly to all the details associated with each individual element within it, from the smallest nail to the largest volume of concrete. Those include all usable and actionable data, including size, current cost, replacement value, lifespan, warranty information and more. These specific details — or project intelligence

— can be leveraged again and again throughout the project’s construction and beyond from within its own common data environment (CDE).

The key is to enter all that data into the BIM model during the estimate phase so it can serve as an interactive reference going forward. That’s when it becomes the foundation

for data-driven decision making. Based on the model-linked data, the owner, contractors and other stakeholders can evaluate and agree on the most appropriate material and equipment options to invest in for the project based on cost effectiveness, durability and/or repair record, for example.

Optimised design phase efficiency Building your project through BIM before real

construction begins opens up opportunities to experience things you hadn’t been able to with traditional design methods.

For instance, designing a structure through BIM modelling frees you up to experiment with variations on materials, exteriors, door and window placement, layout configurations, and more. You’re able to virtually

walk through a model for a realistic view of the flow, the aesthetics, the space, and even any design mistakes to fix on the spot.

The BIM process also acts like a risk mitigation tool enabling you to discover structural and spatial interferences through automated clash detection.

Catching these early enables you to correct them at the design stage — before they’ve had a chance to be built into the structure, which would set the stage

for change orders for anything from minor alterations to full-on budget-eating rework down the road.

You preserve not only the original cost and schedule estimate, but your profit margin.

Maximising design phase efficiency with BIM means being confident that those choices you make for your future capital projects are cost-efficient with regard to the construction estimate and to future maintenance after handoff.

Interactive data to foster interactive teams Being able to access and interact with all your projects’ constantly updated details at such a granular level is the kind of transparency that sets the stage for better understanding of the build and more effective communication among project teams, including those disciplines that may not normally have had a seat at the design table.

With all the data linked from the model housed in BIM’s CDE, it serves as a central hub where everyone can interact with the wealth of information it contains. Teams can interact with each other — sharing updated models, asking and answering questions, suggesting modification ideas, reviewing solutions to problems oftentimes before they occur.

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ELECTION 2023

A collaborative way forward for infrastructure & construction Waihanga Ara Rau, the Workforce Development Council for Construction and Infrastructure, has published its Statement of Strategic Direction (SSD) outlining what it intends to achieve for the sector over the next five years

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he Waihanga Ara Rau SSD outlines a focused and collaborative approach to shaping the future of Aotearoa, by strengthening the construction and infrastructure industry workforce.

The publication was developed with the help of people in the sector.

This included industry employers and associations, educational institutions, iwi, hapū, and Māori organisations. It highlights the Waihanga Ara Rau commitment to honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi and sets strategic goals to foster trust, inclusion, and success in the industry.

The mahi outlined in this

publication builds on what Waihanga Ara Rau has already achieved, which includes: • Completing a Workforce Development Strategy with the Electricity Supply Industry.

This identified several Strategic

•

Goals and action recommendations about attracting new people to the workforce and the importance of clear career planning for the current workforce.

Completing Waters Services projects.

These show that 6,000-9,000 extra

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•

•

•

•

people are needed in this industry over the next 30 years.

Publishing its first Workforce Development Plan.

This plan is the starting point for the development of approx. 11 Strategic Sector Workforce Development Plans across the Construction and Infrastructure sectors.

It looks at past workforce trends, captures a snapshot of the current workforce and paints a picture of the future. As a living document, it will be updated as we develop Workforce Development Plans for Strategic Industry Groups and ultimately individual industry workforce development plans.

Creating the online Workforce Information Platform (WIP.org.nz) WIP displays national and regional gaps and surpluses within the construction and infrastructure labour market determined by the dollar value of planned and active projects in the pipeline. It shows the occupations and numbers of people we need to put that work in place.

Launching tradecareers.co online toolkit.

This toolkit helps employers hire and retain women and demystifies the construction and infrastructure sector for women.

Launching fifteen regional reports as part of the

16 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Regional Construction Workforce Planning and Development Project.

• Reviewed and developed nearly 1,400 standards and over 50 qualifications. This has maintained the currency of industry qualifications and begun the focus on creating a skilled workforce for the future.

The SSD informs how Waihanga Ara Rau will make a difference for industry in the next five years including its short, medium and long-term focus areas.

Key highlights include: 1.

Achieving success for Māori: Demonstrating a commitment to iwi, hapū, and Māori organisations, ensuring their voices and aspirations guide the sector’s future.

2. Industry trust and confidence: Building strong relationships, partnerships, and positively influencing the sector.

3. Transforming the workforce: A commitment to evidence-informed advice, high-quality training, innovative education products, and fostering inclusive future-focused pathways for all industry members.

Philip Aldridge, Chief Executive of Waihanga Ara Rau, said, “Our Statement of Strategic Direction not only lays out our vision for the coming years but stands as a testament to the collective voice and aspirations of

those we consulted. It’s not just our roadmap, but a commitment to the industry, Māori, and the wider community.”

This strategic document will guide what Waihanga Ara Rau does in the coming years and will be reviewed to ensure it remains current and effective. It will directly inform the annual Operational Plan, detailing deliverables, work plans, outcomes, and success measurements.

Waihanga Ara Rau invites everyone interested in the future of Aotearoa, New Zealand’s construction and infrastructure sectors to explore the Statement of Strategic Direction and engage in the discussion.

About Waihanga Ara Rau Waihanga Ara Rau is the Workforce Development Council (WDC) representing and supporting the construction and infrastructure sector in vocational education and training.

It is committed to providing a strong voice for the industry while ensuring a future-fit workforce and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Māori-Crown relations.

Its vision is a construction and infrastructure sector

that enables everyone to reach their potential.

Its core functions are to: • Provide skills leadership by ensuring our essential building, construction and infrastructure sectors are training new and existing workers to the highest and most consistent standards.

• Lead the development of industry qualifications, set industry standards and assess training provision against these industry standards.

• Bring consistency to industry standards and learning outcomes – making sure they are applied across the motu, and all learning modes.

• Be the voice of industry to represent industry interests as well as being a system leader providing input on policies that matter most to industry.

• Provide advice to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) on investment in vocational education and determine the appropriate mix of skills and training for the industries they cover.

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earners in Auckland can now book VR formats of the popular Foundation Passport Building Construction and Civil courses. VR courses will be available in Wellington and Christchurch in late 2023.

Virtual reality (VR) training is an innovative, future focused learning format that allows for real life scenarios to be digitally simulated for training purposes, and eliminates the risk of making mistakes.

These VR courses have been designed to provide health and safety training through a virtual onsite experience that accurately simulates hazards and risks present in a real construction environment.

Developed with industry, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development and SkillsVR, the Foundation Passport Building Construction and Civil courses set the standard for health and safety training and knowledge in New Zealand’s construction industry.

Compared to traditional classroom learning, VR training is more time efficient, cost effective, and accommodating to people with different learning styles. VR delivers consistent training content and results in high learning outcomes.

Using VR headsets and controllers, learners are fully immersed in their learning, completing interactive tasks such as hazard and risk identification, PPE selection, and identifying how to keep themselves and others healthy and safe in a construction environment.

Learners who complete the one-and-a-half-hour VR course receive a digital

ELECTION 2023

Site Safe New Zealand launch VR training courses for New Zealand’s construction industry Health and safety training for New Zealand’s construction industry has levelled up with the launch of Site Safe’s first virtual reality (VR) training courses.

Site Safety Card (valid for two years). The digital card includes a green ‘Foundation’ indicator, showing they have completed the foundational training that allows them to work safely on a New Zealand construction site.

Job seeker Jacob Hedley was the first person to complete the VR Foundation Passport

training course, and in oneand-a-half hours, he gained his digital Site Safety Card and important skills that would help him in his search for a job.

“I was actually blown away, I told my missus, I told my brother-in law, father-in-law, and a friend over in Australia,” said Jacob.

As a key sector currently

facing a skilled labour shortage, the development of VR health and safety training is an innovative way of getting people ready for work in the construction industry.

“By utilising technology such as VR, Site Safe continues to lead in providing innovative and effective ways of delivering workplace health and safety training,” says Site Safe Chief Executive Brett Murray.

“It is important that we are doing all we can to ensure that construction is seen as a safe and attractive sector to work in. Training plays a big part in building the competence and confidence of our workforce to produce good work outcomes,” says Brett.

“As the industry’s leading safety organisation, we are committed to working alongside industry to make sure our training is the gold standard in giving our kaimahi the knowledge they need to stay safe onsite.” infrastructurenews.co.nz 17

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Become SiteWise Green GETTING TO GREEN MEANS: Demonstrated quality health and safety systems in place.

Your company becomes instantly visible in our database, which principal contractors and large organisations use to select contractors based on their assessment results.

Receive an electronic SiteWise green badge, that you can use on promotional material Receive an electronic certificate detailing your green grading for you to display

18 infrastructurenews.co.nz

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ELECTION 2023

Unpacking the buzzword ‘sustainability’ Civil Contractors NZ Technical Manager Michelle Farrell takes a deep dive into what ‘sustainability’ means, why it matters, and what it might mean for the civil construction industry in New Zealand

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t seems right now, the more the word ‘sustainability’ is used, the less it means. Are we talking about United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, reducing carbon emissions or sustaining cashflow on balance sheets? Or is there some universal knowledge we can apply to unpack the buzzword?

First, we need to understand that sustainability is not just about reducing effects on the environment; sustainability can refer to anything: a business, a lifestyle block, a bank account, a country, or an industry. In other words, sustainability can have environmental, economic, social/human and cultural implications. We’re essentially talking about a system, and in this case a sustainable system.

Below are three very simplified system diagrams. System A is sustainable, where the “good stuff” inside our system remains stable; System B is unsustainable, with the good stuff being depleted; and, System C is rejuvenating, where the good stuff is increasing.

It can help to think of a system, in this respect, like a bank account. Provided the money going into a bank account is the same as, or more than, the money

going out of the account, the balance inside the account will either stay the same, or increase – this is a sustainable bank account (System A, or System C). Or thinking in terms of human resources in a business – if the number of

new employees is less than the number of employees resigning (and the work required remains the same), the business may become unsustainable over time ie the business cannot sustain itself in terms of the human resource, unless the

amount of work decreases (System B).

Now let’s apply this thinking to a widget-making business, which very simply uses 100 units of resource to produce 100 units of widgets (System A). If the number of units put in

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increases to 120, with the same number of output units, then the business may be depleting the good stuff inside – it’s losing too much money, people or other resource, and may be unsustainable. Something needs to be done to bring it back to stable and sustainable, or the business will eventually go bust.

It can get more complicated when we’re trying to understand sustainability in terms of renewable and nonrenewable resources though. So, let’s take a look at an example which uses energy to produce a product.

Consider a machine which simplistically uses 100 units of energy to produce 100 units of product.

This may seem like a sustainable system – it looks like System A. But let’s momentarily look at the resource being used to produce the 100 units of energy for our machine.

If the resource is coal, then the coals’ system is System B (depleting resource), because we 20 infrastructurenews.co.nz

are removing coal from the earth far quicker than the earth is making coal (coal is a non-renewable resource). However, if the resource is wind, then the energy system is System A, because wind is a renewable resource and the earth won’t run out of wind.

So, in the case of our machine, when we expand the system boundary to include the energy resource system, the machine is essentially unsustainable when it’s using coal to create the energy in, but is still sustainable when it uses energy from wind.

That’s the reason why the sustainability concept can get confusing – because it depends on where the system boundary (the dotted rectangle) is drawn.

We can have what appears to be a sustainable business making widgets, but if we expand the boundary to include the energy resource, it can become an unsustainable system.

We could look at a business’ bank account, which appears sustainable (money in equals money

out), but say the business relies on a constant supply of water to make its’ product. Water is a finite resource and if the water supply runs out, the business then becomes unsustainable.

Consider a country as a system, containing many businesses inside its boundary, where we are using sustainable resources inside our system but also importing resources (fuel, immigrants, money in the form of debt) to keep our economy stable – this may become unsustainable. If we are unable to source those resources – war, pandemic, depleting resources to name a few reasons – then our country as a system starts to become unsustainable.

There are ways to deal with this input and output of resources from a system’s boundaries, however. Considering that the resources in are finite (they’re used faster than they’re made), we could reduce the amount of resources we need to use to make the input arrow

smaller to match the output arrow.

This is where some other concepts come into play: efficiency – a more efficient process uses less resources; reduce, reuse, recycle – using less non-renewable resources (recycling is a way to make a resource renewable essentially); resilience – if a hazard occurs wiping out a whole lot of resources, extra resources are needed just to repair the system, rather than for production; or similarly diversity – making sure all our eggs aren’t in one basket, so we have options if one resource becomes depleted or unavailable.

How far out can our system boundaries go before we need to stop worrying? Well, our ultimate system is the earth including its atmosphere.

Draw the boundary around earth’s atmosphere, and that’s where the system ends (we’re not going to consider populating Mars).

As long as we’re not using more resources than the earth produces (side

ELECTION 2023

note: the sun’s energy is free), then we are living sustainably. Spoiler alert – we’re definitely not.

So why does the term sustainability seem to be used in reference to carbon emissions a lot of the time? Well, think of this system as being the carbon cycle only. Some things use up carbon: trees and plants use carbon to grow and then they lock in the carbon until the tree dies – if the tree decomposes, it releases carbon into the atmosphere – or is burnt (again, releasing carbon to the atmosphere). Because the tree does not produce carbon, the carbon stored inside increases.

But other things will convert carbon fuel into carbon dioxide, taking stored carbon and changing it into carbon gas (carbon dioxide), which releases the carbon into the atmosphere. “Net zero emissions” is when we’re putting say 100 units of carbon into the atmosphere, but we’re also planting enough trees to absorb 100 units of carbon over the same period. Carbon emissions are particularly important for the earth’s ecosystem, because if we’re

putting more carbon into the atmosphere (cars) than we’re removing (trees), then the earth will cope by adjusting the climate to deal with the higher levels of carbon in the atmosphere – this is climate change.

New Zealand mostly uses renewable resources to produce electricity – wind, geothermal and hydro are all considered to be renewable resources – which makes electric vehicles a viable option.

Electric vehicles use a renewable resource for input (energy), but also do not emit carbon as a waste product, like fuel-powered vehicles do.

Sustainability can get complicated when we’re talking about environmental effects. That’s because we’re referring to an ecosystem, or a system that needs to be able to sustain itself without negatively impacting the environment around it (and therefore affecting its adjacent system).

A system that produces toxic waste, is not sustainable because it’s releasing toxins into an adjacent eco-system which may be depleting that systems resources. When

we dig up a riverbank and sediment erodes into a stream, the sediment clogs up the stream, killing plants which are both eaten and which produce oxygen, therefore killing fish – unsustainable, because things are dying (depleting).

Systems rely on adjacent systems to be able to sustain themselves, all the way up to the outer edges of the earth’s atmosphere.

An industry that loses more workers (emigration, retirement, physical and mental illness) than it gains, is unsustainable. We need to make sure enough people are being trained up and the work they’re doing is interesting and safe enough to keep them in the industry, in order to sustain that industry.

We need to ensure the quality of what we’re building is good enough that it doesn’t need replacing too soon or is destroyed by a natural hazard. We need to make sure we’re not producing excess waste that ends up in landfill, which is an unsustainable practice, because eventually we run out of space. We need to innovate processes that don’t use as much finite

resources.

Consider how much cut to waste and importing fill is required – not only because it’s an expensive way to do earthworks, but because disposal of the cut to waste uses up space (which is also a finite resource) and then requires aggregate (finite resource) to be imported, where the cartage burns fuel (finite resource) and emits carbon (climate change).

Hopefully you now have a better understanding of why sustainability is such an important word, how systems work, what makes a resource finite, why efficiency, diversity and resilience are important, how adverse environmental effects can impact systems, how systems can adjust themselves to create a balance. And crucially, how systems are interrelated and impacts to one system affect the balance of other systems.

The earth is the ultimate system and will adjust accordingly to ensure its survival – with or without us. That’s why sustainability matters.

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Kiwi innovation leading the way in concrete slab insulation

Why do I need to insulate the concrete slab?

Slab insulation is important not only to save on energy bills for future owners and tenants, but also to improve comfort.

Insulation will reduce heat loss and make the slab easier to heat. It offers a layer of projection against moisture and will provide a thermal mass to regulate temperatures.

If embedded floor heating is incorporated in a concrete slab-on-ground, the slab must be insulated so that heat from the slab is delivered up into the space above and not lost to the exterior and ground below.

A new generation of Expanded Polystyrene Board insulation has arrived

LABX200 is specifically designed to deliver high compressive strength and improve insulation under concrete slabs.

Developed by trusted Kiwi insulation experts EXPOL, this exciting new innovation has quickly become the product of choice for specifiers and others in the construction industry.

Wayne Watson Technical Manager EXPOL doing a visual check of SLABX200 to ensure it meets EXPOL’s high technical specifications.

What makes SLABX200 different?

We chatted to Wayne Watson a Structural EPS and GeoFoam Consultant at EXPOL to see what makes SLABX200 different.

Wayne told us that due to its compressive strength rating of 200Kpa there is no comparable product on the market. He states “SLABX200 is specifically designed for insulating concrete slabs.

It has a rating of 200kpa at 10 percent compression or 20 ton per square meter.

Its high performance specs are designed to give Engineer’s peace of mind so that they can recommend this product with 100 percent confidence”.

The team at EXPOL recognised that there was nothing on the market that offered a cost-effective yet high performance solution to concrete insulation.

So they set about to develop a product with New Zealand residential and commercial projects in mind.

The durable nature of SLABX200 means that it won’t degrade over time, keeping its integrity for the life of the structure.

Due to the lightweight nature of Expanded Polystyrene the product is also easy to handle and install making quick work of slab insulation on site.

How does this product compare to Healthy Homes standards?

The Healthy Homes insulation standards across New Zealand states than underfloor insulation should have an R-Value of 1.3 or

greater.

With several thicknesses available SLABX200 ranges from an R-Value of R 1.5 at 50mm thickness through to an impressive R6.0 at 200mm thickness.

Therefore, all thicknesses offer R-Values over and above the standards to ensure healthy and efficient homes.

How does this product work in my sustainable building project?

The team at EXPOL are committed to the environment. In a true closed loop process 100 percent of manufacturing waste is recycled in their seven recycling plants nationwide.

Expanded Polystyrene offers great eco credentials and at the end of a products life it can be turned into other EXPOL products.

The high performance of the SLABX product also ensures that your building project is sustainable to heat and cool and therefore leading to less energy consumption over the life of the building.

If you’d like to learn more about the SLABX200 product, the team at EXPOL are happy to have a chat. Visit their website on www.expol.co.nz or give the Technical Manager at call on 0800 86 33 73.

22 infrastructurenews.co.nz

ELECTION 2023

How will new energy standards affect Australia’s building sector?

With changes in Australia’s National Construction Code (NCC), the building sector there needs to adapt, Environment.co’s Jane Marsh says

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n addition to a few other adjustments, the most considerable difference comes with the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS).

Since 2010, houses built in Australia have had to confer a minimum six energy rating. However, with this new legislation, this is no longer the case — the standard has changed from a six to seven. Here is

what the recent seven-star rating changes and the impact it could have on the Australian building sector.

What Is Changing With the New Energy Efficiency Standards?

NatHERS is an energy efficiency scale for houses built in Australia and goes up to a ten — which means the home requires

no artificial temperature control. In other words, the higher the rating, the less energy it would use. This energy-efficiency scale considers a few factors, such as the home’s location, insulation, materials, design aspects, climate and layout.

Current residential buildings in Australia account for 24% of overall electricity usage and 10% of total greenhouse

gas emissions. With the implementation of this higher rating system, a decrease of 24% is projected for Australia’s home energy. In addition to cutting energy costs, these standards will decrease overall emissions and improve the protection homes offer against weather effects.

In other words, this bump up in rating will make infrastructurenews.co.nz 23

ELECTION 2023

homes more comfortable to live in, better protect them from weather conditions and make them more affordable. Another change with the improved rating is a new Whole of Home energy budget.

The Whole of Home score determines how a house stacks up to the NCC annual energy budget. The score considers the energy efficiency of appliances and on-site energy generation or storage. In other words, solar energy can offset the power devices — such as heating, cooling, hot water and lighting systems — use.

could rise, the difference should be insignificant.

They also state many homes in Australia are already being built with a seven-star rating. This shows it is possible to build a house with cost-effective measures that comply with the rating while following smart design principles.

produce less emissions makes the new seven-star rating a welcome necessity.

There are also rebate programs available for consumers — such as the Solar Homes Program — to help lower the initial price of solar energy.

For the building sector to reach the new rating,

How Will These New Energy Standards Impact The Building Sector?

The new energy rating has already been made accessible, allowing the building sector to accommodate the new standard. According to the Victoria State Government, the cost of building a home should not increase much if construction workers follow smart design principles early in the building process. While the price 24 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Experts project this switch in ratings will cut energy bills for new homes by $576 a year.

A seven-star rating will make homes more energy efficient, meaning cooling and heating a building will cost significantly less. This decrease in energy costs while enabling homes to

emphasis on the design principles and the home’s orientation is necessary.

For example, houses should face a way that takes full advantage of the sun.

Utilizing practices like these allows for more heat in the winter months.

Experts should explore other opportunities to make

the home cooler in the summer, such as windows stopping heat from entering the house. A stronger focus must also be on improving the overall insulation of the building, such as the ceiling, under the floor and walls.

Energy-Efficient Homes Are Helping Save the Planet For many, this improved rating comes as a welcome addition. This new rating system ensures homes are built with energy-efficient practices in mind while reducing carbon emissions.

This will help Australia’s construction sector create houses that aim to reach net zero emissions.

The changes improve the comfort new homes provide, reduce the cost of electricity bills and are steps in the right direction in the ongoing battle against climate change.

While it might take some time for the necessary adjustment to occur, the benefits of this new and improved rating system are well worth the effort.

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Shortsightedness and poor planning lead to property buyouts The failure of successive councils and governments to prepare for inevitable flood events has left ratepayers and taxpayers burdened with bailing out the owners of weather-affected properties

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he Government will enter into a funding arrangement with councils in cyclone and flood affected regions to support them to offer a voluntary buyout for owners of Category 3 designated residential properties. It will also co-fund work needed to protect Category 2 designated properties.

Minister of Finance Grant Robertson says the facilitation work that the cyclone taskforce had been engaged in to undertake risk assessments has been completed.

“From here the councils will lead engagement with their affected property-owners. This will help councils get the right solution in the right place and avoid significant financial hardship for property owners.”

For properties designated Category 2 (where it is determined community and/ or property level interventions are feasible to manage future severe weather event risk) the Government will work with councils to help them build flood protection and other resilience measures. The initial support for this is already in place with $100 million initial funding announced in Budget 2023.

People in homes designated as Category 3 properties

(where future severe weather event risk cannot be sufficiently mitigated) will be offered a voluntary buyout by councils – the costs of which will be shared

Finance Michael Wood says initial indications are that across all regions there will be about 700 Category 3 properties, and up to 10,000 homes in Category 2 areas.

between the Government and councils.

“The focus of today is on residential properties. We are working with sectors, such as the horticulture sector on possible targeted support for commercial operators, and on regional plans that will provide overall support for recovery and rebuild,” Robertson says.

A parallel process is also underway to engage with Māori, including on appropriate processes for whenua Māori. Engagement with those communities will be led by the Cyclone Response Unit, Te Arawhiti and local councils. The process will ensure that there are equitable outcomes for these communities.

Associate Minister of

Robertson says there is no precedent for the response required, but there will be more events like this in the future.

“As a Government we have to strike a careful fiscal balance between supporting affected communities and not making all taxpayers bear the cost.”

This is a cost that could have been avoided if it were not for decades of underinvestment in infrastructure, poor planning and the shortsightedness of building homes in flood-prone areas without the necessary flood protections.

Proactive, rather than reactive policy is what is needed here. Robertson may call this year’s extreme weather events unprece-

dented, but they were not unexpected.

Last year, then Associate Minister of Local Government Kieran McAnulty received a report titled Vulnerable Communities Exposed to Flood Hazard.

“This report identifies 44 communities that have a high level of socio-economic vulnerability and are exposed to flood hazard, are not planning to build flood protection infrastructure according to council LTPs, and communities in the wider district may have limited financial capacity to fund responses to flood risk,” it says.

“More than half of the vulnerable communities exposed to flood hazard are in the upper half of the North Island.”

This is not a new problem, with the report making reference to the July 2021 flooding of Westport, which revealed the challenging mix of flood hazard and financial limitations the community and councils face.

The report spelled out to the Government that what happened in Westport could happen in the North Island unless action was taken.

That action is at last being taken, but it is too little, too late. infrastructurenews.co.nz 25

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Extreme weather undermines confidence in country’s infrastructure Grim findings have come out of the annual 2023 Construction Industry Survey as optimism in the sector continues to decrease

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partnership between Teletrac Navman and Civil Contractors New Zealand, the survey found that New Zealand’s infrastructure is not able to cope with increased severe weather events and the impacts of climate change.

Only 7 percent of survey respondents expressed 26 infrastructurenews.co.nz

confidence in the ability of New Zealand’s infrastructure to cope with climate change including erosion and severe weather events. At the same time, confidence in industry outlook and future pipeline of work declined, with 56 percent expecting no turnover growth in the next 12 months (compared to 48

percent in 2022).

Continued uncertainty has a major impact on the ability of the industry to deliver the infrastructure the country needs. The definition of a clear, committed and funded pipeline of work remains the issue likely to have the most positive impact on the industry, increasing

in importance from last year (now 84 percent vs 71 percent in 2022). Close to half of businesses (45 percent) view increased funding for infrastructure and maintenance projects as the most important initiative from an incoming government following the 2023 election.

Civil Contractors New

ELECTION 2023 Zealand Chief Executive Alan Pollard says we need to build more resilience in the country’s infrastructure to protect our country’s social and financial wellbeing.

“Infrastructure investments are long-term.

Sometimes the benefits of urban planning, water management and transport investment are not felt for decades. This timeline doesn’t align with our three-year political cycle of the governments who makes the decisions around infrastructure development.

“Furthermore, if we talk about pipeline, we can’t forget the easiest thing to scale up is maintenance. As a country, we have not invested enough in maintenance or projects to retrofit existing infrastructure over past decades to make infrastructure resilient in the face of extreme weather events. We must work smarter, and technology enables this,” adds Pollard.

Industry Outlook Optimism in the sector is decreasing, with only 34 percent confident in the civil construction industry outlook (declining from 41 percent in 2022).

Furthermore, significantly fewer will be looking to increase staff in the next 12 months (54 percent vs 63 percent in 2022) and 56 percent expect no turnover growth in the next 12 months. These numbers tell us that without this committed and funded pipeline of work, businesses don’t have the confidence to continue to invest in people and technology.

To improve optimism in the industry, Pollard says proactive planning is needed.

“The country’s civil contractors need to better understand what will be built, and where.

being the main resulting outcomes.

Only 7 percent are confident in New Zealand’s

Contractors need project certainty to invest in people and equipment, so it’s important projects proceed when planned.

“Funding announcements are one thing, but for real industry confidence, we need to know when physical construction will happen, so those who can build the infrastructure that the country needs, can invest in the people and equipment they require to get the job done.”

infrastructure’s ability to deal with extreme weather events – a 10 percent reduction from last year’s report. This shows an urgent need to invest in maintenance, renewals and resilience to future-proof at-risk infrastructure.

Sustainability is inevitably an important topic for civil contractors. 45 percent of contractors say clients have indicated sustainability practices will impact procurement decisions, and 31 percent have won a contract based on broader outcomes, including sustainability and innovation. Technology will also help improve reporting requirements – in particular sustainability reporting.

Contractors also see technology as a key tool to improve disaster recovery efforts, and 36 percent expect that recovery work from major weather events and climate mitigation efforts will create opportunities for their businesses over the next three years. There has also been an increase this year (27 percent) in contractors looking to innovative technologies like AI to help solve industry challenges.

Climate Change Resilience This year, climate change has started to pose a major threat to the physical and financial resilience of the civil construction industry.

Contractors are often first responders in a natural disaster, working to repair and restore damaged infrastructure.

47 percent of respondents had been directly involved in emergency or disaster response over the past year, with 69 percent saying ongoing projects have been impacted by extreme weather events, with project delays, insurance claims and the need to renegotiate contracts

Working Smarter with Technology One of the few areas where confidence has increased is in the ability of new technology to improve business efficiency and overcome challenges. The survey found that utilising existing technology to its full extent will help future proof the industry, and 52 percent of businesses report that they need onsite tech to win work.

“Technology plays a vital role in emergency situations and challenging working conditions like disaster recovery after severe weather events. Features of existing technology can be put to use in such situations to support workers and improve safety and efficiency”, says Jim French, Construction Industry Specialist at Teletrac Navman.

“It is also reassuring to see more contractors are looking into innovative technologies like AI, as it has the potential to not only help improve business operations but also help solve current industry challenges. We’re seeing an exponential growth in the possibilities of AI technology, and as the industry grapples with more complex infrastructure projects, the insights and analysis AI provides will prove to be invaluable.”

The results of the survey and the civil construction industry’s response to these challenges will be further discussed by a panel of senior construction industry leaders at The Civil Contractors Conference in Auckland on 1 September.

The 2023 Construction Industry Survey is available for download here. infrastructurenews.co.nz 27

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NIWA invests $5m in extreme weather research These new investments will accelerate our efforts to increase New Zealand’s ability to respond to and prepare for future extreme weather events, says NIWA Chief Executive John Morgan

N

IWA has launched a $5 million per year package of new projects aiming to tackle some of New Zealand’s most pressing challenges, including responding to and preparing for extreme weather events.

NIWA already undertakes extensive research in forecasting, climate change and extreme weather, natural hazards, atmospheric science and Māori environmental research. This new investment will allow NIWA to double down on efforts in these areas.

The new package includes 28 infrastructurenews.co.nz

an additional $2.3 million per year for extreme weather-related research, including forecasting impacts from extreme weather and also to support climate change resilient infrastructure development.

An additional $1.85 million per year has been allocated to work with Māori on climate adaptation and to better deliver NIWA science to iwi/hapu and Māori businesses. NIWA is also investing in new projects to fast-track solar and wind forecasts for renewable energy production and to measure and verify agricultural greenhouse gas

emission reductions.

Following Cyclone Gabrielle and other extreme weather events in early 2023, NIWA urgently reprioritised some of our research to gather data in the immediate aftermath and to help affected communities recover from these events. This was complemented shortly afterwards by additional government funding to expedite our research into flood prediction and hazard risk assessment.

As we have seen across the world in recent years, some of the biggest impacts of climate change

have been increases in extreme weather events – such as storms, floods, droughts and wildfires.

We know that such extreme events are going to become more frequent and more intense, and we need to be better prepared.

Advanced, high-precision forecasts that link different hazards, such as rainfall with river flooding, will help all New Zealanders – including iwi, emergency managers, government, councils and the public – to face the challenges our changing climate brings.

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ELECTION 2023

T

his review is an excellent canvass of the issues and provides a toolbox of solutions for the next Government to choose from. Unquestionably, Local Government needs change and renewal, but the answer isn’t more centralisation. Democracy must be at the heart of change, along with a drive towards localism, especially given New Zealand is the most centralised country in the OECD – bar none.

Infrastructure New Zealand is heartened that the review captures the opportunities for community voices to be strengthened through Local Government and for people to improve their local places.

If we are seriously going to build infrastructure projects that enhance social and economic opportunities for more New Zealanders, we need local leadership to develop financial partnerships through better shared funding models.

Infrastructure New Zealand has said that in the past, much of New Zealand’s infrastructure building success was locally, not centrally driven. This included early rail, bridges, roads and even the Auckland harbour bridge.

Sadly, we have lost the nation building spirit, along with the funding mechanisms for local and regional entities to drive and partner with central Government and the private sector on their projects. It’s time to restore that by building strength in regional and local communities.

Infrastructure New Zealand says that the next Government – irrespective of political stripes – should enact key parts of the review in its first 100 days of office. Infrastructure New Zealand will be adding 32 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Stronger local government, less centralisation No matter which parties form the next Government, Infrastructure New Zealand Chief Executive Nick Leggett says they need to pick up and run with the Review into the Future for Local Government’s final report which has just been released reform of Local Government to its scorecard for political parties this election to understand how they intend to respond.

We know Local Government has been hampered by narrow revenue streams like rates – and unfunded mandates handed down from Central Government.

It’s time to rebalance that and rebuild New Zealand. For instance, having

GST on rates refunded to councils and linked to local infrastructure, could be game changing.

The key message in the review’s report is; don’t wait for Central Government – start thinking about how you can enhance your local influence and act more regionally to partner with central Government, iwi and business on big infrastructure that adds to productivi-

ty in the regions.

The gems in this review are too good to be lost.

New Zealand is too gun-shy when it comes to change.

33 years is a long time to do nothing with Local Government. Better still, communities can drive change far better than Wellington ever will.

Read the final report

ELECTION 2023

23 recommendations for the next government Infrastructure New Zealand’s hope is that the incoming Government – no matter its stripes – takes these priorities seriously as the infrastructure sector’s call to action

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he incoming Government must accelerate infrastructure investment and set a bold vision for the country.

On behalf of the wider infrastructure sector and ahead of the 2023 General Election, we have put together a set of key priorities that will help New Zealand achieve world class social and economic performance. We will revisit these recommendations following the Government’s first 100 days in office, to ascertain what has been achieved and assess whether new directions

have been set.

Five actions for the Government’s first 100 days •

•

System Change: Begin consolidation of regional councils and territorial authorities into new regional entities with long term city deals as a first step towards rebalancing the power between Local and Central Government on infrastructure delivery and growth.

Climate Resilience: Start development of

•

•

infrastructure resilience plans for all sectors and establish funding for these, including private funding opportunities.

New and better utilisation of tools: Uptake of existing funding mechanisms on specific projects in the first 100 days of office. Review current tools that need refinement to be effective in the current climate, including the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act and Urban Development Act to improve usability.

Improve use of

•

external sources of capital to fund infrastructure: Commit to the engagement of private sector funders and financiers as partners at all levels of Government to speed up project delivery and deliver more value to New Zealanders, faster.

Workforce: Commit funding to establish a major project leadership academy to improve project governance and lift capability

Recommendations 1.1 Begin consolidation

infrastructurenews.co.nz 33

ELECTION 2023 of regional councils and territorial authorities into new regional entities with long term city or regional deals as a first step towards rebalancing local and central government power.

1.2 Establish a framework and complete successful city and regional deals between central government, local government, Iwi, and the private sector as funders, deliverers and partners on major infrastructure builds for all parts of New Zealand.

1.3 Action a fast-track consent process that will enable major projects to be planned and built on accelerated timeframes.

1.4 Agree on the Terms of Reference for a review of and recommendations for a refreshed large project consenting framework.

1.5 Progress implementation of water reform by establishing the entities and funding mechanisms that provide for sustainable ongoing investment in the modern and safe water infrastructure our communities need.

Balanced partnership needs to be at the heart of system change to supercharge the sector.

At present, weak central government commitment and insufficient funding of local government are the key barriers to effective implementation of plans in the current system. The incoming Government must build on the Review into the Future for Local Government’s recommendations and agree to local government reform that provides for significant structural change which promotes a local voice.

Local government reform should consolidate regional 34 infrastructurenews.co.nz

councils and territorial authorities into new regions defined by logical social, economic environment and cultural boundaries.

Planning, funding, and governance functions must be integrated to deliver value to the public.

At the regional level, development strategies

communities by way of a share of the economic uplift resulting from effective delivery of the spatial strategies. Within towns and communities, community councils would plan, fund, and deliver local placemaking and amenities to reflect the needs and aspirations of communities.

would identify the longterm outcomes for the new defined regions and map out the future sequencing of development by decade on 10, 20-and 30-year horizons.

A 10-year spatial plan would give effect to the strategy by regulating land use and sequencing investment in infrastructure for the next decade. A three to four-year budget cycle would commit funding for development and provide investor certainty, while new and increased funding would be provided to regions and

To enable this, the incoming Government would need to enact legislative change. We envisage a simplified system comprised by a dedicated Environment Act to set limits, standards and policies for protection of the environment and national heritage; and a Development Act to consolidate local government into regional entities with new funding powers, tasked with the delivery of regional development plans to

deliver improved social, environmental and economic outcomes across New Zealand.

City and regional deals, if implemented effectively, could act as a bridging measure to drive localcentral government partnership and devolve responsibility to regions.

Long term funding certainty and earn-back mechanisms could pave the way for broader reform.

The deals or place-based agreements would bring together central and local government, Iwi, and the private sector as partners, funders, and deliverers on major infrastructure are a fantastic opportunity to provide certainty of longterm funding and planning, but the right building blocks must be in place first. A national plan for cities, and a staged approach to negotiations based on local government capacity and capability should be prioritised in the first instance.

Change is badly needed in the water sector and shying away from difficult conversations on implementation won’t provide confidence to the sector or the public.

The incoming Government needs to establish water services entities and funding mechanisms that provide for the sustainable funding of the modern and safe water infrastructure our communities need.

Despite the controversy surrounding the reform programme, the major parties have points of agreement.

In line with a broader reset of regional responsibilities, we hope the broad regional structure of the reform programme as enacted will remain. Off-council balance sheet borrowing,

ELECTION 2023 and established economies of scale benefits achieved by the entity structure should be retained. These are significant long-term assets and they need to be funded as such. The role of private capital should also be seriously considered. If any change to the entities model is introduced, we encourage the incoming Government to consider the benefits of shared services models, in line with the Review into the Future for Local Government’s recommendations.

We also know that New Zealand’s current consenting system isn’t working. Action on a fasttrack consent process that enables major projects to be planned and built in the required timeframes is needed, and the Government should agree on the Terms of Reference for a review and recommendations for a refreshed large project consenting framework in its first 100 days.

We expect that any incoming Government would either carry forward or make minor amendments to significant infrastructure reforms including legislation passed by the House supporting the affordable water and resource management reform programmes. Any amendment to the resource management system should be made in line with the regionalised structure but with simplified legislation – acknowledging the current fragmentation across statutes including the Local Government and Land Transport Acts as well as climate change response legislation. Both reforms represent much needed progress and rolling back gains on regional structure, as well as the improved

ability to raise capital for infrastructure would inhibit progress.

The Government must drive a mindset shift and improve pipeline certainty for Aotearoa New Zealand Recommendations

2.1 Communicate a clear vision and strategy for New Zealand’s future infrastructure needs and investment pipeline.

that is coordinated with the funding and financing functions currently housed with Crown Infrastructure Partners. A single agency could take a system leadership role.

We know that random politicised infrastructure projects, where project decisions and directions turn on the whim of politicians, creates uncertainty for the sector and hampers its ability to gear up and deliver.

by independent advice, data, and evidence, that provides greater certainty to both the New Zealand public the wider sector. We recommend that central government’s infrastructure advisory and funding functions are integrated into a single independent entity to provide coordination and system leadership.

The private sector has a central role to play Recommendations

2.2 Accelerate and communicate a clear and credible pipeline of infrastructure projects to provide confidence and certainty to the entire sector and the New Zealand public.

2.3 Integrate central government’s infrastructure advisory and funding functions into a single independent entity to provide coordination and system leadership.

In recent years, we have seen some progress towards greater certainty and longer-term planning in the sector, but independent advice has lost traction with ministers. New Zealand’s infrastructure system needs strong, independent advice

A recently commissioned Infrastructure New Zealand report outlines that a more certain pipeline could enable $2.3 and $4.7b more a year on average being delivered, over the period 2025-31. These are not benefits we can afford to miss out on in the context of a substantial infrastructure deficit. Te Waihanga’s Infrastructure Priority List will go some way towards prioritising the pipeline. This work needs to be accelerated by an agency with the mandate to facilitate funding and financing of prioritised projects. A compelling vision for New Zealand’s infrastructure is needed – one which commits to longterm planning, informed

3.1 Commit to the engagement of private sector funders and financiers as partners to Government in infrastructure projects.

3.2 Establish a set of streamlined infrastructure capital funds to ensure a strategic approach is taken to central government’s capital infrastructure spend.

These capital funds should be administered by one central agency.

3.3 Review current tools, including the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act and Urban Development Act to improve usability.

3.4 Introduce legislation to progress congestion charging in Auckland and that enables Local and Central Government to use road pricing as a tool more generally.

Partnership must be at the forefront of the incoming Government’s approach to infrastructure. The infrastructure deficit was estimated in 2019 to be $210 billion. The intervening years have brought substantial cost escalation, and the impacts of climate related weather events that have added to the figure significantly.

The Government can’t fund this alone – incoming infrastructurenews.co.nz 35

ELECTION 2023

leadership needs to commit to engaging private sector partners to deliver large projects. Alongside an improved approach to private capital, existing government-led funding and financing arrangements require improvement.

There is an opportunity to streamline existing capital funds to develop a strategic approach to government investment, review current tools – including the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act (2020) and introduce new and improved revenue tools like congestion charging / road use pricing, tourist levies, GST rebates that can address funding shortfalls and improve the attractiveness of infrastructure financing opportunities.

Greater use of private capital enables more infrastructure projects to be funded, constructed, and completed earlier, adding more immediate benefits to New Zealand. The greatest cost to New Zealand remains the cost of not building vital projects that improve social and climate 36 infrastructurenews.co.nz

progress and our productivity and economic performance. Rapid funding, construction and delivery of more projects can only occur by effectively using parties external to Government through wise use of available tools and sector expertise.

The incoming Government should partner with local councils to deliver significant projects across the country Recommendations

4.1 Commit to funding, including use of private capital, and a clear delivery structure to guarantee an integrated mass rapid transit network in Auckland, including commencement of the second Waitematā harbour crossing by 2026.

4.2 Introduce legislation and establish a delivery vehicle as necessary to commence work on a package of transport and urban infrastructure in Wellington, including for tunnel duplication and

trenching of an expanded state highway network to the airport.

4.3 Negotiate regional deals to fund and plan for regional projects with long term certainty, greater power-balancing and an integration of planning and funding functions.

Our metropolitan areas provide the biggest opportunities for decarbonisation through mode shift in transport. Improvements to Wellington’s urban transport and infrastructure and Auckland’s mass rapid transit network – including integration via a second Waitematā harbour crossing are badly needed, but current plans lack funding commitment.

Legislation needs to be introduced in the first 100 days of the incoming Government’s term to fund and commence work in Wellington, including for tunnel duplication and the trenching of an expanded state highway network to the airport. Auckland Light Rail also requires funding certainty and the build

of the second harbour crossing should commence by 2026.

The incoming administration must seriously engage with the private sector to agree on the way forward to involving private capital in these major projects.

There is also an opportunity to provide certainty and improved resilience outcomes across our growth regions.

Regional deal arrangements should include projects to meet this need. In the Waikato, a regional deal could partner central government with councils on the construction of the Southern Links and completion of Cambridge to Piarere expressway. In Tauranga, special legislation to approve the Port of Tauranga’s berth extension would enable a partnered approach to delivering much needed port capacity.

Commitment to deliver the State Highway 29 network connections and the SH29 bypass would enable planned development around Tauriko, Western Bay of Plenty.

ELECTION 2023

In the South Island, a regional deal that included the co-funding of a second Ashburton bridge would improve connectivity and resilience along key freight routes. In the North Island, the Government should also accelerate the Coromandel, Tairawhiti and Hawke’s Bay’s recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle by reviewing options for a regional deal between central and local governments in the area.

The long-term partnership arrangements focus on creating economic growth by giving local government power and resources to deliver projects in their region and are most successful when they involve the private sector (and private capital) from the start.

Meeting the climate change challenge Recommendations

5.1 Develop infrastructure resilience plans for all sector plans and established funding for these, including private funding opportunities.

5.2 Continue work on regulatory settings to manage New Zealand’s

energy security, including progressing work on offshore renewables.

5.3 Government should progress climate adaption legislation as soon as possible to provide clarity and certainty, and enable communities to address the complex issues associated with managed retreat.

5.4 Establish a new central government organisation to oversee climate event recovery and response to ensure there is sufficient funding available.

The current Government’s ‘policy bonfire’ earlier this year created significant uncertainty. Further instability and a lack of committed funding to meet the pressing need to decarbonise and build climate resilient infrastructure will hinder any hope of progress.

Critical monitoring and reporting of the ERP’s implementation progress need to be considered as part of the development of the second ERP and ERP actions need to be fully funded and prioritised as we head into the critical second emissions budget period.

A combination of

mitigation and adaptation approaches is needed to address our climate change challenges. The future of New Zealand’s energy security relies on a wellbalanced and consistent regulatory approach.

Getting this right early in the transition will be critical to its success. Work is underway by the current Government, including on the offshore wind market.

We expect this reality to be considered seriously in the Government’s first 100 days, and for work underway to be largely progressed.

The impact of climate change is exacerbating New Zealand’s existing vulnerabilities.

Planning and building new infrastructure must now be done with climate resilience and sustainable development front of mind.

New Zealand also needs to take a proactive risk management approach to our existing infrastructure networks and facilities by assessing the risk of climate-related flooding, slips, erosion, and coastal inundation. Based on these assessments, sector plans need to be developed (where they do not already exist) and a

long-term funding plan to build more resilience into our infrastructure needs to start now. Opportunities to leverage private funding and financing options should be provided for too – this challenge is too big for the government to undertake by itself.

To enable communities to address the complex issues associated with climate change and managed retreat, we urgently need the climate adaptation legislation to provide the foundations for us to change our planning policies to match today’s challenges. A framework to address the inevitable funding question is a key component of this.

There also needs to be clear accountability and oversight by government to assist with future recoveries and rebuilds, particularly given the ongoing nature of climaterelated events and the geographic spread of these. The systems established to facilitate, and fund, recovery efforts as well as the lessons learnt need to be harnessed to ensure they contribute to future recovery efforts. A new central government organisation should be established to facilitate this and to leverage the opportunities that exist to build back better.

The incoming Government should progress climate adaption legislation as soon as possible and ensuring that established funding is available to address resilience needs – including through private sector involvement.

Growing capability and nurturing a more inclusive industry makes economic sense infrastructurenews.co.nz 37

ELECTION 2023 Recommendations

6.1 Commit funding to establish a major project leadership academy, drawing on Te Waihanga’s recommendation.

6.2 Commit to ongoing support of infrastructure skills centres and industry led diversity initiatives across the sector.

Skills shortages have been a pressing issue over the last few years across the New Zealand economy – especially in infrastructure and construction.

Immigration numbers have improved, but there are ongoing challenges in competing for global talent. There is substantial opportunity to address shortfalls by leveraging increased diversity in recruitment and retention across the sector, and space to drive best practice in the sector by growing onshore expertise.

Less than 3% of construction tradespeople are women in New Zealand.

Leveraging the opportunity to build greater inclusivity and improve conditions for greater diversity across the sector isn’t only the right thing to do, it presents significant opportunity to address skills pressures in key industries. The sector has a range of industry-led initiatives, including the piloted infrastructure skills centres which Government and industry partnered to deliver which would benefit from long term committed funding.

In its 30-year Infrastructure Strategy – Rautaki Hanganga o Aotearoa, Te Waihanga / the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission has recommended that a New Zealand Major Projects Leadership Academy is established 38 infrastructurenews.co.nz

based on proven international approaches and that completion is made a requirement for project leaders. New Zealand’s major projects need to employ best practice and make the most of constrained resources.

To drive a step change in

on improvements to procurement and business case processes.

major project management in New Zealand – alongside bringing in overseas expertise, INZ recommends that a leadership academy here, modelled on successful international experience, would benefit New Zealand’s major project delivery environment.

Waka Kotahi’s business case process to ensure New Zealand is utilising international best practice for project development and decision making.

7.2 Review government procurement practices and introduce changes which streamline approvals, reduce inefficiencies, and incentivise the use of technological innovation including improved data provision and digitisation.

Government must improve as a client of infrastructure services, and lead

Recommendations

7.1 Review assessment processes, including Treasury’s better business case approach and

Both central and local government are large infrastructure procurers.

Both could leverage and lift sector capability and productivity by improving their own decision making and procurement practices. At present, central government business case practices are often inefficient and achieve sub-optimal outcomes because they tend to favour status quo or gradual improvement due to the discounting of longer-term benefits and the lack of attention to non-quantifiable benefits like climate resilience or city shaping. We need to improve the way we make decisions on projects to enable us to better consider benefits and costs against the outcomes we are seeking and make informed decisions about the types of projects that are important for our future.

Treasury’s better business case approach and Waka Kotahi’s business case process should be reviewed to ensure they remain fit for purpose and are in line with international best practice.

There is also an opportunity for improved procurement practices to lift the capability of the industry by changing procurement rules to require data provision back to Government – the client – on infrastructure projects, with a view towards developing an enabling environment to support digital twin and underground asset mapping capabilities.

Improved procurement practices will need to be met with significant capability uplift within government and collaboration across the industry.

ELECTION 2023

Infrastructure NZ releases policy positions Ahead of the 2023 election, Infrastructure New Zealand is developing a set of policy positions which will act as the starting point for the important conversations we need to have to improve the current state of play in our sector, Policy Advisor Martina Moroney says Improved utilisation of private capital In our ‘private capital’ paper, we outline that the Government cannot deliver everything simultaneously itself and will not be able to fund its way out of New Zealand’s more than $210 billion infrastructure deficit.

The private sector is wellplaced to provide significant support in delivering the country’s infrastructure needs through its delivery capacity and capability, flexibility to scale up quickly where there is increasing demand, the size of its

finance pool, its commercial discipline and sophistication, and its industry and technical know-how. A partnership approach between the Government and the private sector would enhance delivery capability, transfer key risks of deliverability to the private sector as well as the ability to bring forward significant infrastructure projects that do not currently have funding committed. Using private capital can come in many ways, such as private-public partnerships, a leasing model, and soft loans.

Infrastructure New Zea-

land makes two recommendations. The Government should review its current approach to using private capital for public infrastructure and improve its utilisation of private capital while still ensuring Crown ownership remains. The Government should explore the potential of different models to attract private capital to enable it to deliver a much larger portfolio of infrastructure projects.

Better use of current tools In our ‘better use of

current tools’ position paper, we identify that local government in particular is responsible for about half of all infrastructure spend.

However, many councils are unable to borrow more money to finance the infrastructure they need to keep up with population growth, large asset renewals, or service quality upgrades. In particular, our cities have faced significant growth pressures over the last decade and have struggled to respond.

Part of this problem is that we are not good at using the funding and financing infrastructurenews.co.nz 39

ELECTION 2023 tools we have, such as special purpose vehicles through the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act and specified development projects under the Urban Development Act. For example, after being introduced in the middle of 2020, it was only late last year that the first Infrastructure Funding and Financing project was confirmed for Tauranga towards thirteen transport projects across the region. We are also yet to see any specified development projects confirmed, although Kāinga Ora is currently assessing two projects – Western Corridor in Tauranga and the Northern Growth Area. However, it has been over six months since these have been selected for assessment.

To improve the use of these tools, we need to review them and simplify the process. We also need to see councils better supported in navigating the steps required. Enabling greater accessibility and usability of current tools will be critical to improved infrastructure development. Further, there is a need to look closely at Kāinga Ora’s role in enabling urban development projects through the Urban Development Act. Kāinga Ora have a significant role to play in partnering with private developers to bring forward complex projects.

Better local government More fundamentally, we need to acknowledge the misalignment of incentives.

We must take a step back and look at the conditions underscoring underinvestment at the local government level.

In our ‘better local government’ paper, we outline how current local government 40 infrastructurenews.co.nz

settings separate planning and funding functions. This creates incentives that are fundamentally misaligned fiscally, financially, and structurally.

Central and local government both face different (and often competing) motivations. Local government’s primary source of revenue – rates – is detached from council performance and is instead linked to voters’ priorities, which often focus on vertical infrastructure with tangible outcomes and near-term impact rather than much-needed horizontal infrastructure. Local government is also at odds with central government who gets direct benefits from improved economic performance and is incentivised to proactively pursue economic growth. As a result, we lack a certain and built-out pipeline that would allow the sector to gear up to deliver on the infrastructure that New Zealand urgently needs.

We also note that there is a misalignment of incentives at a regional level.

Central government entities with national objectives are performing functions with localised impacts. Local government entities without scale or resources are providing services with regional and national impacts.

Neither are optimised to respond to the communities they are affecting, and no one is delivering regional outcomes.

It is our view that there is a need to fundamentally re-align incentives. INZ recommends empowering regional government with functions that have spatial effects, with local governance being refocused on community wellbeing and service delivery. To support this reallocation of roles, a joined-up funding and

financing approach that enables infrastructure delivery and certainty for the sector is required. Regional deals, based on city deal-style arrangements, would allow regional bodies to engage with central government to agree regional outcomes, negotiate greater certainty of funding and drive growth in the long-term through the delivery of infrastructure projects which increase the region’s economic capacity. Stronger alignment on regional outcomes can provide a basis for central government to explore new funding tools such as bed taxes or sharing of GST on new builds.

Simplifying capital funds In our ‘Simplifying Capital Funds’ paper, we outline that over the last decade, central government has invested more than $32 billion in the direct provision of infrastructure through 17 different infrastructure-related capital funds.

While this investment has resulted in many successful infrastructure projects, each fund established has had its own: administration bodies who are responsible for the funds; application process (including forms, information requirements, assessment processes); repayment terms (such as grants versus loans); and reporting requirements.

Agencies, sometimes with limited initial capability, have had to establish and disestablish teams/units and systems to administer these funds. Cross government sharing of expertise and resources has not been effectively harnessed.

More fundamentally, these different funds are cutting across the same areas of investment but with differ-

ent priorities and criteria.

There has been no strategic approach from central government towards this investment, rather it has been ad-hoc and led by different whims of the day.

As a result, recipients (often local government) are left navigating the myriad of potential funding options, spending large amounts of money on various applications. Aligned with Te Waihanga’s recommendation in the New Zealand Infrastructure Strategy, INZ recommends that a consolidation occurs, and a set of clear infrastructure capital funds is established.

This would enable the Government to prioritise investments based on agreed priorities, with a focus on national significance and net benefits and enable greater public transparency of infrastructure capital funding decisions. Drawing on overseas experience, we recommend that the infrastructure funds cover areas such as transport, housing, and urban development, and should be administered by one agency. These funds should have standardised application forms and assessment criteria.

Transport Pricing In our ‘Transport Pricing’ paper, we highlight that INZ has long advocated for transport pricing and congestion charging to be implemented across our cities, particularly Auckland. Transport pricing, over other funding mechanisms, strengthens the relationship between those who pay for infrastructure and those who benefit from it.

At present, motorists pay for the use of roads through a range of methods, such as petrol taxes, road user charges, vehicle registra-

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tion fees and council rates.

However, these charges do not consider the time or location of travel — for example, driving on a congested motorway in rush hour versus driving along a quiet road late at night.

The true cost of these two journeys is very different — driving at peak times adds to the congestion on the road, which affects, or has a ‘cost’ to, other road users.

These costs also impact: • the economy — for example, by adding to freight travel times and costs, and • individuals — for example, people have less time at home with family.

In short, we are not paying the true cost of transport.

While there is increasing agreement that we cannot build our way out of congestion, tangible options to progress implementation of congestion charging tools, especially in Auckland, have languished.

Over the last 10 years, we have seen many attempts to introduce transporting pricing in our cities. Most recently, in 2021 the Trans-

port and Infrastructure Select Committee investigated congestion pricing and made several recommendations to Parliament.

The Committee recommended that the government: • progress legislation to enable New Zealand cities to use congestion pricing as a tool in transport planning, and • implement a congestion pricing scheme in Auckland.

However, there has been no decision from the Government since.

It is important to note that congestion is not only the result of inadequate roading provision, but also the product of inadequate alternatives. Fast, affordable, and convenient alternative mode options reduce the willingness of travellers to sit in congestion.

That is why any implementation of congestion charging needs to ensure that people: • continue to have the choice to drive if they want to • continue to have the

choice to drive without being unreasonably financially impacted if they live further away from where they work and cannot easily switch to another mode and are from lower-income households, and • be able to easily switch to other transport modes (supported by adequate infrastructure) that offer an efficient and rapid/frequent service.

We also need to plan better – as well as congestion charging, planning for growth through intensification especially around rapid transit corridors allows more efficient use of land.

It will deliver benefits in the form of more affordable housing and in the form of lower congestion and infrastructure charges for wider residents.

We encourage the Government to progress legislation to enable New Zealand cities to use congestion pricing as a tool in transport planning and recommend that the Government, with Auckland Council, should prioritize implementation

of a congestion charging scheme in Auckland.

System Stewardship At Building Nations in 2022, the then Minister for Infrastructure, Grant Robertson, announced that Ōtākaro Limited would be repurposed into a national Crown delivery agency – Rau Paenga, to project and contract manage large vertical infrastructure projects for a selection of government agencies.

In adding to the web of entities advising on and leading infrastructure delivery across the system, there is an opportunity to step back and reflect on the entities operating at the national level. In our ‘System Stewardship’ position paper, we identify that there is an opportunity to clearly identify and empower a system steward with a whole-of-system remit who can support and actively steer the disparate functions of entities and enable greater accountability and transparency across the infrastructurenews.co.nz 41

ELECTION 2023 system.

Our view is that Te Waihanga is well-positioned to perform a system steward role but needs to be empowered to do so. Thus far, the establishment of Te Waihanga has gone some way to creating greater oversight and a fuller evidence base in the system.

Its strategy, infrastructure pipeline and review work, as well as the provision of its major projects advice and requirement for its procurement best practice to be adopted for projects with a value of $50 million or more, are examples of its impact in the sector. These functions also highlight the benefits of its whole-of-system vantage point.

core and life-supporting infrastructure. Moreover, project sequencing that avoids market participants competing for the same pool of labour and encourages companies to invest in training and productivity is critical, as is progress on getting skills that can’t be sourced locally into the country.

An infrastructure priority list is needed alongside independent advice on what’s most important for the

•

to provide confidence to the sector empowers Te Waihanga | the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission to provide independent advice on the infrastructure priority list to build consensus on key projects and initiatives.

Harnessing digital tools

Pipeline certainty This release includes a paper on pipeline certainty, which describes how uncertainty around our project pipeline makes it challenging for the sector to plan and invest in the resources it needs to address our infrastructure gap.

Our pipeline suffers from uncertainty over project timing, funding and outcomes which is driven by a range of factors including changes in government policy, delays resulting from inefficient legislation and limited capability within government in relation to decision making and infrastructure procurement.

This creates confusion for industry, limits its ability to invest in labour and capital, and limits the number of potential suppliers for projects.

A clear, certain and deliverable pipeline is essential for the wellbeing of Aotearoa New Zealand.

This means minimising the influence of political changes on the delivery of 42 infrastructurenews.co.nz

country. The Government can do more to strengthen and depoliticise decision making. The Infrastructure Action Plan includes an action for Te Waihanga and the Treasury to work on the development of an infrastructure priority list.

However, this needs to happen much sooner than 2026 as currently planned.

It is also not clear if this list will include independent advice for infrastructure prioritisation to build consensus on key projects and initiatives that address significant long-term problems as originally envisaged by the Te Waihanga.

We recommend that the Government: • accelerates the development of a clear and certain pipeline of infrastructure projects

The second of our three papers in this release outlines that New Zealand is not effectively leveraging the value of digital, geospatial and data technologies to address our infrastructure deficit, resilience and decarbonisation priorities, or opportunities that deliver existing infrastructure investment more efficiently.

Gains have been made overseas, and we have some great pockets of work here in New Zealand.

Among others, in Wellington, the Virtual Wellington digital twin programme and planned underground asset mapping work provide significant scale and an opportunity to learn from city-wide models. At the project level, innovative digital engineering is already delivering efficiency

gains in the construction of Auckland’s City Rail Link.

There are also plans for a digital twin of Auckland’s centre city.

It’s time to scale these initiatives nationally, but at present data is siloed, and a lack of coordination and interoperability of data standards is hampering progress. With record infrastructure investment underway, the time is now to move digital enablement forward. This will require strong leadership, and a willingness from the sector to collaborate.

Central Government has a key role to play in making sure that progress on asset data standards development is properly resourced, implemented and supported. As a major procurer, it should also apply a consistent approach to building and infrastructure development through its procurement rules. Agencies might require geospatial data collection and modelling for all new build and major renovations in their property portfolios. National consistency on the required data provision expectations and data standards on major projects would then be baked into contracts from the beginning, giving contractors the chance to build capacity to respond over time. This will require upskilling by the Government as a client to ensure the data provided will be used.

Progress on this programme of digitisation also needs a home and clear governance arrangements.

We recommend that Te Waihanga drives national consistency in this area by coordinating fragmented efforts to improve the data requirement and provision environment.

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Climate resilient infrastructure We know our existing infrastructure is no longer fit for purpose. The impacts of recent weather events have exposed the fact that most of New Zealand’s infrastructure is old and ageing and ill-equipped to handle New Zealand’s changing climate and more frequent extreme weather events. Most of the infrastructure in our cities, and that making up our critical lifeline connections, was constructed to handle the more benign weather conditions and volumes of rain that existed 50 or more years ago. It is evident that extreme weather events, once considered a one-in100-year or more occurrence, will now continue to strike with greater frequency and ferocity.

In our third policy position paper – climate resilient infrastructure – we highlight the need to plan and build new infrastructure with climate resilience and sustainable development front

of mind. New Zealand also needs to take a proactive risk management approach to our existing infrastructure networks and facilities by assessing the risk of climate-related flooding, slips, erosion, and coastal inundation. Based on these assessments, sector plans need to be developed (where they do not already exist) and a long-term funding plan to build more resilience into our infrastructure needs to start now. Opportunities to leverage private funding and financing options should be provided for too. This challenge is too big for the Government to undertake by itself.

We need the right legislation and organisations in place and we need to have an honest conversation about building residential housing, business and public infrastructure in areas at risk of extreme weather now and in future.

Constructing new developments and infrastructure with climate change-friendly design will often be eas-

ier than retrofitting ageing infrastructure in existing communities. Relocation of some critical infrastructure links or facilities and some communities may be required.

New Zealand needs legislative provisions to enable communities to address the complex issues associated with climate change and managed retreat. We urgently need the climate adaptation legislation to provide the foundations for us to change our planning policies to match today’s weather patterns, or we put the future of our communities at risk. A framework to address the inevitable funding question is a key component of this.

There also needs to be clear accountability and oversight by the Government to assist with future recoveries and rebuilds, particularly given the ongoing nature of climate-related events and the geographic spread of these. The systems established to facilitate and fund

recovery efforts and the lessons learnt need to be harnessed, and we need to ensure they contribute to future recovery efforts.

We recommend that the Government: • commit to fully fund New Zealand’s emission reduction plans and develop infrastructure resilience plans for all sectors, including established funding for these, with private funding opportunities • progress climate adaptation legislation as soon as possible to enable communities to address the complex issues associated with managed retreat. Establish a new central governmental organisation to oversee climate change event recovery and rebuilds and ensure there is ongoing adequately funding available.

infrastructurenews.co.nz 43

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he purpose of the review is to assist project teams and decision makers considering Auckland Light Rail and similarly complex projects to learn from the lessons of New Zealand’s biggest infrastructure investment to date.

“It is important to reflect on what we have learnt so far from this project, particularly around business case processes, as we contemplate a significant number of new major transport investments,” says Blake Lepper, GM Delivery.

The review was led by experts Graeme Joyce and Peter Spies, who studied project documents and interviewed team members.

Joyce and Spies have either been involved in or have reviewed many of Australasia’s largest infrastructure projects, including both heavy and light rail and road tunneling projects.

“These multi-billion-dollar projects are complex, disruptive and can exceed a decade under construction. It’s critical we learn as much as we can from this experience if projects of this scale are going to become a more substantive part of our total infrastructure investment,” says Lepper.

“There is no doubt the City Rail Link will be a tremendous asset for Auckland City, delivering significant travel time, safety and urban intensification benefits.

However, it is projected to cost more than double what was estimated in 2015, with many billions more to be spent across the Auckland rail network in years to come to realise the full design capacity of the project.”

The review highlighted opportunities to improve the business case process and recommended that future business cases be re44 infrastructurenews.co.nz

What can we learn from Auckland’s City Rail Link An interim review of Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) project, commissioned by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission – Te Waihanga, offers a timely reminder of the significant challenges with delivering large, complex infrastructure projects and the consequences when risks eventuate viewed when expectations, scope or costs for a project change. The reviewers queried why more than a billion dollars of upgrades essential to delivering the benefits of the project were omitted from the business case altogether. It also emphasised stronger procurement planning, in light of the challenges involved in working with local and international contractors – who all have important, but different, roles to play in making projects a success.

And that the community and businesses impacted should be made sufficiently aware of a project’s impacts.

Those interviewed by the reviewers generally agreed that City Rail Link Ltd is delivering in a timely manner

and to an acceptable standard – putting this down to the cooperation and support of entities involved in the project. Reviewers were complimentary of many aspects including the project’s property acquisition approach which was a significant step forward on prior projects.

All up, the review contains 24 recommendations for future infrastructure projects.

While the lessons from this review generally mirror issues found internationally, one learning particular to New Zealand is a shortage of people who are skilled and experienced with projects of this scale and complexity.

“For CRL this issue is illustrated by the way in which the governance and over-

sight of the project needed to continually evolve and develop “workarounds” for the structures originally agreed. This was time consuming and created additional pressure on teams that needed to be focused on delivery,” says Lepper.

“A project of this type has never been completed in New Zealand. It is also the first large-scale integrated-transport-urban development project in New Zealand. If we want to get better at doing these types of projects, then we are going to have to get better at rolling this expertise from one project into the next and ensuring every project is set up better than those that came before.”

Read the full review

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wo new three lane road tunnels under the Waitemata Harbour, one going in each direction, and a separate light rail tunnel that will link to the existing Auckland Light Rail corridor is the proposed plan for a second Auckland harbour crossing.

The twin road tunnels would not be contingent on the light rail tunnels, with phasing options for the road tunnels to be considered by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency, including whether to build both tunnels at once or separately. In either case, additional busway, driving and cycling and walking capacity will be created at each stage.

Separately, a future light rail tunnel is proposed from the Wynyard Quarter, under the harbour east of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and on to six new stations on the North Shore.

This too would be phased.

Construction would not be expected to begin until after at least the first of the two road tunnels is completed.

Auckland’s history (including the construction of the original Harbour Bridge) is one of coming up with plans just like this – only for the public transport, walking and cycling options to be dropped later, leaving us with roads and driving as the only realistic option for most people.

And that’s almost certainly what will happen here too.

When it comes to a harbour crossing, what you build first is all that matters. If things proceed as stated above, Waka Kotahi will build the additional road tunnels – and then they, or some future government, will say we can’t afford to build the light rail component, and will cancel it.

Labour’s Auckland harbour crossing ‘absurd’ Not to be outdone by National’s mega roads plan, Labour announced a $35-45 billion harbour crossing programme that doubles down on the transport planning mistakes of Auckland’s past, Greater Auckland’s Matt Lowrie writes How did we get here, now?

Earlier this year, Waka Kotahi consulted on various options for a harbour crossing. The one that’s been announced was by far the most expensive, would take the longest time to build, and also had the highest C02 emissions from construction. But it was favoured by Waka Kotahi, in part it seems because it was the biggest thing they could build.

“This is a bold plan for Auckland’s future that delivers a modern transport network that will connect all parts of the city,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says.

“Reducing congestion

requires improvements to both roading and public transport, giving the public choice.

“Under this proposal the network will become joined up, allowing Aucklanders to travel from the north to the south, east and west on public transport – freeing up room on the existing Harbour Bridge and in the new road tunnel for those who want to drive.

“A second harbour crossing is needed as soon as possible, and construction is planned to start by the end of this decade and why we are proposing a phased approach, ensuring additional capacity is achieved after each stage.

“The recent wind-related bridge closures of the Harbour Bridge, and the increasing frequency of flooding on the approaches north of the bridge, illustrate the city’s vulnerability to interruptions. These new tunnels future-proof the city’s transport network by reducing reliance on the Harbour Bridge while creating fast new options for getting in and out of the city.

“A project such as this must be delivered in stages, like the Waikato Expressway was, so that the cost and roll-out of each element can be managed carefully and responsibly.

The Government has asked the New Zealand Transport infrastructurenews.co.nz 45

ELECTION 2023 Agency – Waka Kotahi to accelerate work on essential first steps towards realising a transport plan of this scale.”

Opportunity cost Let’s be clear, this is not a bold plan, nor will it “connect all parts of the city.”

If we really wanted a “bold plan for Auckland’s future”, for the projected cost of these tunnels and the one planned for the City Centre to Mangere line, you could build about 300km of surface-running light rail all over the region (or indeed the country).

To put that in perspective, Melbourne’s entire tram network – the longest in the world – is about 250km.

For another comparison, combined with Auckland’s nearly 100km of heavy rail network, 300km of surface light rail would give Auckland a network about the same length as London’s 11 underground lines. That would be bold, deliver world class PT for Auckland, have significantly more capacity than this one line from Albany to the Airport ever could, and importantly, deliver us an entire network.

A breakdown of the costs shows the road crossing and SH1 improvements coming in at $13-16.5 billion with the new light rail line coming in at $21-27 billion.

• Indicative cost of road tunnels: $12-15 billion • Indicative cost of SH1 improvements: $1.0-1.5 billion • Indicative cost of Northern Busway upgrades: $0.5 billion • Indicative cost of walking and cycling improvements: $0.5 billion • Indicative cost of light 46 infrastructurenews.co.nz

rail tunnel (CBD to North Shore): $8.5-11 billion • Indicative cost of light rail tunnel (North Shore to Albany): $12.5-16 billion • Indicative overall cost: $35-45 billion There are currently around

300,000 people living on the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast and by 2048, Stats NZ predict it may grow to around 350,000. So the announced plan amounts to an investment of around $100,000-130,000 per person, or around $300k per household.

And what’s the promised outcome of this investment? Waka Kotahi claims it will result in a 275% increase in daily PT trips across the harbour by 2051 – yet also says it will result in only a 5% change in mode share from Takapuna and a 9% change in mode share from Albany.

What this suggests is almost all the growth in PT usage will come from new residents of the North Shore. Given some of the reaction to changes in the Unitary Plan and the government’s current housing rules, it will be interesting to see how existing residents react when the council has to go through and rezone those parts of the North Shore for 6-storey buildings.

Furthermore, while Waka Kotahi claims the plan will reduce daily car trips and thus VKT, that is artificial and based off their predicted increases in those numbers. So the actual number of people crossing the harbour by road will likely be higher than today, due to building the road crossing.

As previous analysis

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has shown, this will make congestion worse and undermine Auckland’s own goals of reducing emissions and reducing traffic in the city centre.

Whither active modes?

Perhaps one of the most familiar and disappointing aspects of the proposal, and more evidence it’s not a serious proposition for our city in this century, is what’s offered for active modes.

Waka Kotahi says that once the road tunnels are built, only then can reallocation of the current bridge lanes be looked at.

As well as dedicating two lanes to bus lanes, they say one of the clip-ons could then be used for walking and cycling (skating over the question of e-scooters and other micromobility options currently banned from the bridge).

Leaving aside the irony that Waka Kotahi has been fending off the idea of liberating a lane for walking and cycling by

saying it’s “too dangerous”, it’s ridiculous they’re leaving the simple and most affordable low-carbon modes until last. Especially given that one of the listed benefits of the proposal is “6,400 people walking or cycling over each day.”

They even manage to complicate the simple option, by suggesting they’ll look at building an “elevated walkway” on the clip-on to keep pedestrians separate from those on bikes. Logically, access to this would involve stairs and ramps, as well as elevators – thus adding expense, travel time, and another potential point of vulnerability for the trips that should be the easiest and most straightforward.

Reactions so far This entire plan would be comical, if it wasn’t so concerning. Initial reactions have been mixed at best.

Greens co-leader James Shaw says “during the climate crisis, it’s a bit bonkers to be building

more roads,” with transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter saying two new three-lane urban motorway tunnels in a climate crisis is pouring fuel on the fire of an already overheating planet.

National says it approves of the road tunnels and the timeline, but would ditch the light rail component – noting that six years in, Labour hasn’t progressed light rail on the ground.

Mayor Wayne Brown sounds like he’s not impressed by any of it.

“The proposals from both Labour and National to start it by 2029, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on consultants in the meantime, are about politics, not transport,” he says.

The mayor also says he is looking forward to working on some better, faster and cheaper plans. I wonder if those better, faster, cheaper plans revisit the ideas that have now been set aside, for example a new bridge for public transport and active modes.

Upper Harbour Local Board chair Anna Atkinson, while saying that a new crossing would be pivotal for those on the Shore, expresses concerns that this is a plan that will never happen.

“Most people that I’ve spoken to are really worried about the price, and they are worried that is so goldplated that it would never happen,” she says.

Atkinson was concerned cycleways would be left behind in the new harbour crossing plans.

“In this day and age, people want to walk and cycle, because it’s fitter, it’s freer, it’s cheaper and it’s much better for the climate.

“To say ‘we are going to wait until we have done these horrifically expensive road tunnels before that becomes an option’, I don’t think that’s good enough.”

The whole thing is farcical, from the size of the budget to the details and the staging of the plans.

Auckland deserves better than this. infrastructurenews.co.nz 47

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Legislative tweak opens door for inter-regional public transport The deletion of one line in the Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Act now means that public transport that crosses a regional boundary is still subject to the objectives and policies of any applicable regional public transport plan, Darren Davis writes

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umerous submitters to the Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Bill, implementing the Sustainable Public Transport Framework, pointed out that there was no sound public policy rationale for

48 infrastructurenews.co.nz

treating inter-regional public transport any differently than intra-regional public transport. Especially given that many regional boundaries are aligned with river catchments, meaning that the flow of the water could determine whether or not you have access to public

transport.

This led to the following change in the legislation which was recently adopted by Pāremata Aotearoa/ New Zealand Parliament.

Section 114A, Land Transport Management (Regulation of Public Transport) Amendment Act

The deletion of this one line in the final legislation means that public transport that crosses a regional boundary is no longer by that very fact considered to be an ‘exempt’ service, and therefore not subject to the objectives and policies of any applicable regional

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public transport plan. This is a big positive step forward.

Regional boundaries are now much less of a constraint to planning inter-regional public transport in Aotearoa/ New Zealand.

According to the select committee’s report “by removing the automatic exemption for inter-regional services, our hope is that councils would be able to collaborate more easily to provide inter-regional services. To support this aim, we think that if a regional council wished to propose an interregional service, it should be required to consult with relevant local

authorities in the other regions the service would operate in. We recommend amending clause 15(2) to provide for this.”

It does this by extending the consultation requirement for Regional Public Transport Plans. According to the legislation “if the regional council proposes to plan, procure, or operate an inter-regional public transport service, all relevant local authorities in the other regions in which the service is proposed to operate.”

This should simplify the process so that one region can be the lead agency for services operating in more

than one region, so long as they consult all relevant local authorities in that region.

The legislation also requires inter-regional

services to be part of a unit for procurement purposes, which effectively means that such inter-regional services would operate under the Sustainable Public Transport Framework in the same way as intra-regional public transport services.

Nonetheless, there are a couple of cautionary notes.

The legislation applies prospectively, not retrospectively and requires Regional Public Transport Plans to specify inter-regional public transport services that are ‘integral’ to the public transport network. So will take some time to achieve full effect.

Te Tauākī Kaupapa Here a te Kāwanatanga mō ngā waka whenua | Draft Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024/252033/34, page 32 But overall, the final form of the legislation will make it substantially easier to plan inter-regional public transport, supported by there being a funding category in Te Tauākī Kaupapa Here a te Kāwanatanga mō ngā waka whenua 2024/ Draft Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024 to extend and improve inter-regional public transport services. This is all good news for Aotearoa/ New Zealand.

Adventures in Transitland

infrastructurenews.co.nz 49

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$60m inland port welcomes first freight trains Ruakura Inland Port – a newly minted, 9ha customs-controlled cargo facility on Hamilton’s eastern boundary is now operational and set to transform freight movement across the Upper North Island

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he facility has been more than 15 years in development

by Tainui Group Holdings, the commercial entity of Waikato-Tainui, and will be operated in a joint-venture with Port of Tauranga – for an initial period of 50 years.

Senior management representing the JV were on hand to mark the first train from Tauranga rolling into the twin 800m rail sidings just after 7.00am on August 3.

Tainui Group Holdings Chief Executive Chris Joblin says the milestone marked an exciting new opportunity for importers and exporters, especially in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions.

“This is a big step towards reducing carbon emissions from the Upper North Island supply chain. It gives importers and exporters the option to move away from the previously ubiquitous round-trip, road-based journeys, towards more railbased one-way movements for cargoes,” Joblin says.

Recent modelling commissioned by the JV from independent supply chain experts has confirmed potential cost savings of up to 30% for cargo owners using rail from Ruakura Inland Port – compared to the round-trip, road-served transport model from 50 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Hamilton to Tauranga and Auckland.

Initially, two trains a week, each capable of carrying around 90 containers will

Leonard Sampson, Chief Executive of Port of Tauranga says partnering with TGH to operate the inland port has delivered strategic

call at Ruakura Inland Port as the inland port undergoes final commissioning during August. Train calls will then be increased to match demand. KiwiRail operates more than 85 train services per week between MetroPort Auckland and Tauranga which pass through Ruakura.

This year will also see the opening of other large-scale businesses at the adjacent Ruakura Superhub. These include the 40,000m2 Kmart Distribution Centre, and new cold storage facilities operated by global player Maersk (16,000m2) and Big Chill (13,000m2), which will generate freight through the inland port.

infrastructure which will amplify the connectivity of the Port’s existing facilities.

“By combining Port of Tauranga’s expertise in developing and operating ports, with the deep regional connections of TGH, and the scale and efficiency of the Ruakura location we can deliver more value for our regions and customers,” he says.

Quality Marshalling Ltd (a 100% owned subsidiary of Port of Tauranga) will manage physical operations at the inland port. The JV is forecasting to handle around 40,000 TEU (twenty foot equivalent units, a standard measure of shipping containers) transferred

through the Inland Port in the first year of operations.

Peter Reidy, CEO of Kiwi Rail, also welcomes the opening of this strategic node on the national rail network.

“It is not only an expansion, but a better utilisation of our national rail network.

We believe that rail offers resilience against supply chain disruptions, and it is good to see increasing interest and use. Importantly, this project shows an increased connectivity of our infrastructure to benefit cargo-owners and consumers across the country to help decarbonise land transport in New Zealand.”

Chris Joblin of TGH sees the opening as a point of pride for the region’s economic infrastructure.

“It is exciting to see another dot on the map for Hamilton. This is the type of infrastructure to really cement the city’s importance in the New Zealand’s economic landscape. With Ruakura Inland Port operating and the adjacent Waikato Expressway, it’s an alignment of infrastructure that will deliver great value for our country, region and Waikato-Tainui,” says Chris Joblin.

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he team was forged by three friends working in the industry who realised that the key thing stressed building managers, business owners and landlords needed was to make a single call and get a reliable and qualified support team that would cover any aspect of facilities management.

The Rapid trio set down a business philosophy that “we will do what others can’t or won’t do “ and set about assembling a highly trained, efficient and safety-conscious team of professionals who get the job done right, the first time.

Today that service stretches from food manufacturers’ audit cleaning, all aspects of industrial cleaning, painting, building and floor safety management to anti-microbial and moss

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Lessons from Japan in waste to energy Gasification is the most widespread alternative to conventional waste incineration, however it has not yet been implemented on a large scale, with the one major exception of Japan

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he objections to gasification have not changed since the technology was invented: too expensive, too maintenance-intensive, not efficient enough in comparison with conventional incineration.

According to the World Bank, the market share of alternative technologies such as gasification is no more than 2%, even in high-income countries. In low-income countries, these technologies are in reality non-existent.

Only Japan has been able to do better, but why is this?

In the early 2000s, gasification and the less commonly used pyrolysis 54 infrastructurenews.co.nz

processes together had a market share of over 50% in the waste-to-energy sector.

While this has now fallen to an estimated 25- 30%, Japan’s waste industry would still be inconceivable without gasification plants.

Japan’s preference for gasification is a result of its geography. Large parts of the island nation are so densely populated that there is extremely limited scope for building landfill sites, where the residual waste from thermal recycling could be disposed of. In addition to a very strict separation and recycling regime, gasification is therefore a key lever in Japan’s waste

management strategy in order to minimise the use of landfill.

Advantages of Gasification Nobuhiro Tanigaki is Senior Manager at Nippon Steel Engineering, the market leader in Japan, which has built more than 50 gasification plants. He explains the advantages using the example of the company’s Direct Melting System (DMS), one benefit of which is that significantly less residue is produced than with conventional incineration. “The final landfill amount from grate in Japan is approximately 15%,

while the final landfill from our Direct Melting System is only 3%. It contains only the Air Pollution Control residue, whereas the landfill from conventional grate technology contains bottom ash and APC residue. As the landfill costs of bottom ash and APC residue are almost the same, the gap is the benefit. In addition, DMS co-gasification of other waste that is difficult to treat, such as rejects from recycling centres, incombustibles or reclamation waste, would help to minimise the final landfill as well.”

In Japan, which has the highest average landfill costs in the world, this is a

ELECTION 2023 very strong argument. The prohibitive landfill costs are the decisive factor for the Japanese waste industry.

While an average of around 25% of household waste is still sent to landfill in the EU, the corresponding figure in Japan is 10%.

This waste consists solely of residual material from incineration or gasification.

In Europe, the 10% landfill target set out in the Circular Economy Package is not expected to be achieved until 2035. However, the importance of waste-toenergy recycling in Japan becomes even clearer when the total amount of waste is considered, not just household waste.

According to figures from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, just 1.1% of the entire volume of waste generated in Japan was landfilled in 2015.

of the plant is in the interest of the municipalities. This encourages demand for relatively small units that process relatively small quantities and for which there are also sufficient maintenance slots available as a result of lower utilisation levels – all factors that favour gasification

In gasification, in which no bottom ash is produced, this problem does not arise in the first place.

For Nobuhiro Tanigaki, one thing is therefore clear: “Under the legal

technologies. According to estimates, the plants only operate for around 280 to 300 days a year.

And gasification has an additional advantage: in Japan, the bottom ash produced during incineration cannot be used directly, for example in road construction, but must undergo additional treatment beforehand, such as melting or calcination.

framework we have in Japan, conventional grate incineration may not be the best solution for municipalities. Moreover, if the technology can process as wide a range of waste as possible in the same plant, in a process known as co-gasification, it changes the waste management boundary conditions and is advantageous for municipalities,” says

Waiting for the breakthrough

Restrictive policy While the extremely restrictive landfill policy is a major driver for gasification, some of the technology’s disadvantages are less important in Japan than they are elsewhere. This is primarily due to the specific legislation governing the Japanese waste management system.

For example, municipalities in Japan not only have to draw up a long-term waste management plan for at least the next 10 years, they are also required to treat and/or recycle their own waste in their area. If necessary, small municipalities can also form associations, but waste transport over longer distances is generally prohibited. In addition, as waste to energy is one of the waste management schemes, the redundancy

Tanigaki. That, too, speaks in favour of this form of gasification.

At present, however, Japan’s experiences cannot easily be transferred to other countries – because no matter how well the technology fits into the Japanese system, in other countries it is regarded as exotic. And justifiably so in the view of Peter Quicker, Professor of Technology of Fuels at RWTH Aachen University.

“Gasification technologies have reportedly been on the verge of a breakthrough in the waste industry for decades, according primarily to the providers of these technologies.

Amazing and ostensibly new concepts have been extolled time and again, but none of these concepts has yet been viable and at the same time affordable. That’s why there are no plants of this kind in Europe.”

What the Japanese example also shows is that the technical aspect is one factor that determines the success or failure of a technology. The political and legal framework is another. This is why the likes of Amedeo Vaccani and Suejean Asato from Zurich-based management consultancy A. Vaccani & Partners believe that gasification should remain on the radar of European providers too. In a market assessment, they judge that: “It is conceivable that one or another new syngas technology may actually reach market maturity and achieve a good level of competitiveness. As a result, European plant manufacturers using traditional processes are likely to find themselves being compared with alternative processes more often in future.” infrastructurenews.co.nz 55

ELECTION 2023

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Chemical safety relies on meaningful cooperation Expanding government-industry partnerships to help business operators should be a no brainer. Inviting enquirers to read the regulations falls well short of educational expectations Increasing community concerns about vulnerability to unwanted chemical exposure and damage to our fragile environment places additional pressure on both suppliers and users of the chemicals.

Barry Dyer Chief Executive Responsible Care NZ

T

oday, chemical suppliers and their customers continue to adjust to the Covid operational environment.

They struggle with supply chain delays, the loss of experienced staff, frustration with unanswered queries to risk-averse authorities, inflexible and prescriptive regulations, rising compliance costs, diminishing resources and increasing public chemical safety expectations.

While 130,000 businesses are reportedly captured by the Hazardous Substances and Major Hazard Facilities regulations, the official mantra of “600-900 persons seriously harmed each year by unwanted exposure to chemicals in their workplace” presumably applies to all of the country’s 530,000 workplaces.

We all need to sustain and improve our quality of life and these products must be safely managed throughout their life cycle.

Downgrading the flawed but effective HSNO Certified Handler requirement has inadvertently undermined an invaluable capability.

The action deprived businesses, particularly SMEs, of an immediate and recognisable source of workplace chemical safety and compliance advice -- a safe chemical handling capability and emergency response knowledge – critical when a chemical incident occurs.

PCBUs and SMEs must now devise their own solutions to ensure employees are competent to safely handle the chemicals with which they work.

Chemical industry leaders are moving away from relying on lagging indicators of safety performance in favour of identifying safer work practices and work-

places, by responding to workers’ suggestions about improvements.

Conscientious business operators can add value by sourcing accurate, cost-effective workplace chemical safety advice and compliance tools from their suppliers, industry partners and Responsible Care NZ. A proven strategy is government agencies collaborating with proactive industry associations to best achieve workplace safety aspirations. The problem is that SMEs rarely join associations.

However, they all obtain their chemical requirements from suppliers and can benefit from product stewardship advice and cost-effective industry compliance initiatives.

Responsible Care NZ extols less regulation in favour of enabling business operators to be increasingly self-sufficient, using cost-effective products and services such as site compliance assessments and specialist training.

The focus is keeping people safe around the chemicals we encounter every day by adding value to businesses.

Responsible Care is a global voluntary chemical industry initiative developed autonomously by the chemical industry for the chemical industry.

Chemical suppliers continue to help customers achieve workplace chemical safety aspirations through product stewardship initiatives.

To help solve the in-house chemical compliance dilemma in New Zealand, Responsible Care NZ delivers specialist and cost-effective Certified Handler standard training, complete with a certificate.

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infrastructurenews.co.nz 57

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Ensuring adequate respiratory protection It is incumbent on PCBU’s to ensure that workers are not exposed to carcinogens and airborne risks

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orksafe NZ's Clean Air programme was their first targeted intervention on workrelated health. Their goal was to reduce the risk of respiratory ill-health caused by exposure to airborne contaminants in the workplace.

A key part of the programme is to raise awareness and eliminate or control the health risks of silica dust, organic solvents, welding fumes, wood dust, carbon monoxide and agrichemicals.

In New Zealand cancers and respiratory diseases from airborne substances account for at least 31% of total work-related harm and 58 infrastructurenews.co.nz

an estimated 650 deaths per year. They account for 79% of the estimated 750 – 900 people who die annually from work-related health causes - Source: Worksafe NZ. More information here: https://www.worksafe.govt. nz/topic-and-industry/ work-relatedhealth/ carcinogens-and-airbornerisks/ Whether you are an employer who needs respiratory solutions for employees or a welder, plumber, spray painter, asbestos worker, farmer or even a casual carpenter – LUNG PROTECTION IS VITAL! It is incumbent on PCBU’s

to ensure that workers are not exposed to carcinogens and airborne risks. When the hierarchy of controls in risk management have been applied and risks remain, Respiratory Protection Equipment is one of the last lines of defence.

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infrastructurenews.co.nz 59

ELECTION 2023

NZ workplace fatality rate is double Australia’s New Zealand is trailing seriously behind other countries in mitigating workrelated harm, a problem costing the country $4.4 billion a year, a new report reveals

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he State of a Thriving Nation report pulls together a range of economic and qualitative data to better understand this country’s health, safety and wellbeing performance.

It puts the total cost of lost lives, lost earnings and serious injury and health costs from work-related harm in New Zealand at $4.4 billion.

Produced by Sense Partners and Shamubeel Eaqub on behalf of the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum, the report shines a light on our current performance as well as looking at two issues facing businesses in 2023; an economic slowdown and a general election – and how they play into workplace health and safety in this country.

“The report makes confronting reading. While we’re making progress as a country, it is too slow,” says Forum CEO Francois 60 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Barton.

“If New Zealand could improve its performance to match that of Australia, we would reduce our costs to the country by nearly $1 billion per year,” he says.

“Fatality rates remain stubbornly high and are similar to those the United Kingdom experienced in the 1980s.”

When pulling together data and literature on how economic cycles affect health and safety outcomes, economist Shamubeel Eaqub says the causes of harm tend to be different at different stages of the economic cycle.

“When the economy is booming, there is too much busyness, which can crowd out good systems and processes, and culture. When the economy is weak, there can be a tendency towards cutting safety, training, and culture/wellbeing resourc-

es,” he says.

“We surveyed Forum members for a pulse check on the economy and business plans over the past year, and the year ahead. While the Forum membership is weighted towards larger firms, the results show that economic growth is expected to be moderate, but continue to grow, defying pessimism in many current surveys of business.”

“The survey also told us that businesses expect to continue making significant investments in capital, technology, and training, even more than in the last 12 months,” he says.

When considering the upcoming general election, the report calls for the new government to prioritize the importance of a level playing field through clear regulatory expectations on businesses and effective

follow-through and accountability.

“New Zealand’s health and safety performance is a nationally significant issue, and demands action from across government and business,” says Francois Barton.

“The Health and Safety at Work Strategy 2018-28 has not yet published a workplan – first planned for delivery in 2019, nor established any form of system oversight or governance.

This needs to be prioritized,” he says.

“We can, and must do better, as business leaders, government, and the regulators to change this economic and social toll to our people and our country.”

Read the full report

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ELECTION 2023

Physical threats & abuse widespread in construction A study of psychosocial hazards in New Zealand construction businesses has revealed that workers are being abused and threatened, while health and safety leaders face huge challenges

T

he study collected over 30,000 data points from construction businesses around the country and was led by Dr Steve Cantwell of safety software company SaferMe. The work was co-funded

by ACC via its Workplace Injury Prevention innovation programme, and supported

by CHASNZ (Construction Health & Safety NZ) and Civil Contractors NZ. Among the set of six key findings published: – Verbal abuse and physical threats are common – One in four workers avoid reporting injuries – Health & Safety leaders suffer low levels of support, more workplace bullying and poor role clarity SaferMe’s report follows on from the publication 62 infrastructurenews.co.nz

of the Business Leaders’ Health and Safety Forum’s State of a Thriving Nation report, which showed New Zealand’s workplace death rate is double Australia’s, with deaths and injuries costing the country $4.4 billion per year.

“Psychosocial hazards increase the likelihood of accidents and injuries; as well as making workers more likely to be absent or to leave a business. It’s certainly contributing to our abysmal statistics as a nation, and more needs to be done to understand and address psychosocial hazards,” SaferMe founder and CEO Clint van Marrewijk says.

“Our team led by Dr Cantwell has taken a very thorough process to

examine these challenges in construction and other sectors, and we’re now helping businesses to measure these problems and fix them, “ van Marrewijk says.

CHASNZ Chief Executive Officer Chris Alderson says the study could help shape a better future for construction work.

“Robust evidence-based studies such as that undertaken by Dr Cantwell and SaferMe provide the construction industry with valuable insight into how to create a better future for our construction workforce. There are instant and implementable takeaways for construction businesses around the value of fostering collaborative and supportive workplaces as well as reducing known

psychosocial risk factors.”

SaferMe is now focused on helping further industries and individual businesses to measure and address psychosocial hazards in their workplace with its Safety Snap tool, developed with co-funding from ACC. Safety Snap is an evidence-based tool that helps a business understand the psychosocial challenges affecting staff on their worksites in less than one minute per week.

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places such as Iran, Pakistan, South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Korea, UAE, Croatia, Germany, Canada, Fiji, the UK and Australia.

Encouragingly as we have on-boarded these people the male/female split is now lifted to 60/40. And our remuneration is based on role and competence within the role as well as performance.

How to attract, retain and support good staff How has the Certification industry been disrupted by the Covid environment and what have we done to combat the changes

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year ago I wrote an article on this very same topic. At that time New Zealanders, and in particular those of us up in the Northern part of the North Island, had just come out of an extended period of restrictions.

Little did we know that we would return from the Xmas break and be pushed back into another series of restrictions.

As the year unfolded New Zealand finally threw open the doors and allowed both its people and international visitors to start the process of travelling freely up and down country again.

By the time this all came into being we had all spent more than 2 years managing Covid through an initial eliminate strategy, and ultimately a learning to live with the virus world 64 infrastructurenews.co.nz

In the previous article I focussed on the core operational levers that we had been required to review and amend to allow our business to operate and effectively survive.

Now a year later all of the changes we had determined to make are either locked in or in the throes of being locked in.

The sticking point There is one area that continues to be a significant struggle for all businesses throughout New Zealand, and we at Telarc are not isolated from it. This area is the way in which we attract, retain and support people in a post Covid world.

We are a normal business

by New Zealand standards.

We employ just under 50 people. We have workers

based from Auckland in the north down to Dunedin in the south. We have clients on Stewart Island all the way to Kaitaia in the north.

Five years ago the business employed predominantly European males with an average age of late 50’s to mid-60’s.

Covid’s arrival saw a number of those employees retire. When seeking to replace the retiring wave we had in front of us we found ourselves increasingly looking at and employing really good candidates from offshore.

So when you look at our business today it is a completely different demographic.

Half of the current team identify as NZ European.

We now find ourselves with the balance of the team being born and educated in

Real world experience Where have the workers gone? The change is not something we had planned for. What we discovered as we looked to replace our ageing workforce was that there weren’t many New Zealanders with the experience and qualifications we needed who were looking for work.

You may ask why? The challenge we have is that we need people with real world experience. We audit predominantly infrastructure management, manufacturing and construction companies. The building of those entities took place, in a good proportion of cases, many years ago.

As we, in New Zealand, have automated processes and downsized traditional operational training grounds for new talent coming into the industries sectors mentioned earlier we have seen the pool of “could be” auditors diminish.

On the other hand, in the countries I mentioned earlier, from whom we are sourcing qualified people, we are able to access people who have been involved in, or supported, the development and management of large-scale infrastructure projects. This is both in their own countries as well as within the regions they

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have resided in / travelled to.

By having the experience they do, and also having been exposed to management system auditing, they arrive really well qualified to support the growing certification market that New Zealand is experiencing.

We still find the odd diamond in New Zealand who brings the work experience we need to the job. In most cases, though, the people who do successfully come to us do have a number of years of experience in a variety of operational roles.

This leads to our having to jointly invest between 9 and 12 months to be trained, and supported, to be confident when they start their stand-alone auditing journey. We continue to support and on-board local people, but as I have said the journey to being confident is a long one.

The other aspect to weigh into this equation relates to “where have all the New Zealand workers gone”. We hear all sorts of reasons including – early retirement, overseas experience (delayed or just the right time for it), moved to another country for higher pay or lifestyle, became a real estate agent or property developer pre-2022.

The list of reasons is getting longer and, to be honest, it is not something we can influence change in overnight. It is what it is and as a result we solve for today’s problems with the most suitable resource we can find. And on the whole the best qualified come to us from offshore.

New approaches needed With the on-boarding of people from all over the

globe we have found ourselves facing dilemma’s that we wouldn’t have predicted in a pre-Covid world.

A good example of one of the challenges we face is dealing with spoken and written English. For a number of the people who have joined us English is the second, or third and even sometimes fourth language of choice for them.

So things that would normally be taken for granted, such as writing or defining orally a concisely worded observations or recommendation, can initially be a struggle for some of the new people we have employed.

Add into this the idiosyncrasies that make New Zealand business, and social banter, challenging for new arrivals results in both our clients and our new auditors ending up being a little frustrated in finding com-

mon understanding.

We recently ran a structured approach towards better understanding some of the dilemma’s auditor’s face when getting out into their first “stand alone” engagements.

One of the biggest insights related to keeping the onsite auditing engagement calm. When managing an audit the last thing the auditor wants is for the audit to turn into a “voices raised” and “defensive” engagement. Finding ways to put all parties at ease is a skill.

And when achieved allows the engagement to proceed with minimal flare ups or disruptions.

Even for New Zealand born and raised auditors, out on their first “stand alone” audits, keeping the engagement calm is challenging.

They come to the engagement understanding

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0800 004 004 info@telarc.org www.telarc.co.nz infrastructurenews.co.nz 65

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Risk comes in many forms and certification helps over a variety of levels

Telarc is a Jas-anz Accredited Certification Body which provides qualified, competent, New Zealand auditors, who are industry coded to provide relevant and impartial intervention for a large range of New Zealand business regardless of the business size.

The body is able to provide New Zealand business with an individual or a team of auditors capable of assessing one or multiple standards across one or multiple sites.

While the key priority of any commercial relationship is to deliver a product or a service, there is an increasing need from businesses to have confidence that their tendering parties and suppliers are managing their business in a manner that won’t negatively impact the supply relationship.

There are increasing demands from buyers for their suppliers to provide confidence that they are operating their business in a manner that is delivering good quality and environmentally 66 infrastructurenews.co.nz

aware products (ISO 9001 and ISO 14001) while managing workers in a way that protects worker well-being and safety (ISO 45001).

There is more demand across other areas such as ethical work practices, Asset Management (ISO 55001) and IT Management (ISO 27001).

Accredited Certification looks for gaps, risks and improvements in the way that work is actually done versus the way it is planned and communicated.

This provides visibility of where work practice and or documentation anomalies lie in all levels of the business. This then leads to improvement activity so Certification can be granted.

The second growing area that is driving minimisation of risk through Certification is through board and senior leader directives.

Over the last decade, legislation and regulations have looked to push culpability for sub-optimal work practices towards senior leaders and boards.

the idiosyncrasies of New Zealand and its language.

So when a recent arrival to New Zealand who is operating with English as a 2nd or 3rd language is trying to i.) Interpret the spoken word while, ii.) trying to keep the client calm and engaged, the world can turn messy very quickly.

I haven’t even touched on the writing of reports in this overview as this then creates the next downstream challenge for the new arrivals.

For those of you reading the article you probably are thinking why bother, if it is going to create all the frustrations alluded to above?

Enthusiasm for the job What we have found is the people we are hiring from off shore are intelligent, motivated, qualified, “keen as” workers who want to live in a country where they can safely raise their family while working hard.

When I was growing up, the qualities I see in the people moving here is what differentiated New Zealand from other countries and made our people successful all over the world.

To that end increasingly we are going to become more reliant on workers coming from countries around the globe. Understanding their culture and their difficulties when integrating into the New Zealand way is going to be a challenge we will have to solve for.

The above is one example of the challenges we are facing in a post-Covid world. There are a number of others, but for this exercise I think it is better to focus on one area to highlight the changes we will all have to deal with over the

next few decades.

Goodbye good old Kiwi business Once an organisation accepts that the days of being the “good old kiwi business” are gone and that the new world order requires a very open, culturally diverse mind-set the overarching people management ethos changes, significantly.

The key is to embrace the change and find ways to adjust our mind-set to remain successful, rather than fighting it.

Which is a nice segue into the final point of this overview.

The greatest challenge post Covid is mind-set. Trying to bring back the past, trying to replicate what we want and trying to carry out work in a way that was successful before is not going to be easy.

Mind-sets need to change and need to adjust to a new world order in which the globe is becoming a huge resourcing opportunity, and that we should get the best people we can before someone else does.

Philip Cryer is CEO of Telarc, a Crown Entity subsidiary with a vision to provide its clients with end to end, impartially audited Food & Wine and Management Systems Certification and Training services. www.telarc.org | 0800 004 004

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Industry leader in soft fall protection on construction sites Massey University rigorously tested all elements of the Safety Nets NZ system

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ith the enactment of the Health and Safety at Work Act (2015) it became apparent that there was a need to assure customers that they comply the requirements of the Act in safety measures for fall arrest.

“We needed to have our system independently analysed, engineered and ultimately certified. This meant that not only did the individual components of the safety net fall arrest sys-

tem have to be tested, the performance of the safety fall arrest system as a whole also needed to be studied,” says General Manager Craig Daly.

A team at the School of Engineering and Technology at Massey University tested a variety of drop heights and weights, different bracket centres, various net sizes and points where the load strikes the net.

“It even tested nets of different ages and repaired

nets, with the results being collated and analysed to effectively confirm that our safety fall arrest system works,” says Daly.

“This enables PCBU’s to discharge their responsibilities in regard to the requirements of the in the use of a system that is without risk to the health and safety of it’s workforce.”

When the nets have been installed and inspected by a Safety Nets NZ team and a handover certificate

completed by our certified rigger, the client can then commence works above the safe area of the net.

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infrastructurenews.co.nz 67

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Was the Covid-19 wage subsidy successful?

Two reports have been released detailing to what extent New Zealand’s Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme preserved employment and supported businesses during the pandemic

F

unded by the Ministry of Social Development, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust found that the program was good value for money, helping workers and small business owners more than if there had been no support at all.

Their second report also highlights that the subsidy prevented mass layoffs and found no solid evidence that firms did not pass on the subsidy money to their employees.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruption in social and economic activity since 68 infrastructurenews.co.nz

March 2020. The New Zealand Government reacted early, introducing stringent lockdowns to restrict the spread of the virus. At the same time, it introduced a series of economic policies designed to support the health response. The largest was the Covid-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS).

The WSS was a hightrust policy, giving subsidy payments to firms that expected to have a substantial drop in revenues because of the pandemic. The objectives of the WSS were to: avoid widespread layoffs

help firms maintain employment relationships with their workers maintain workers’ incomes to help meet their essential needs during lockdown periods.

The reports analyse the impacts of the WSS on both firm and worker level economic outcomes, adopting a ‘doubly-robust’ estimation approach that uses propensity score methods both to match subsidy receiving firms to similar non-subsidised firms, and to weight the outcomes analysis. The analysis focuses on the first four WSS-waves: the March

2020 (Original), Extension, Resurgence and March 2021 waves.

First, the reports analyses if the WSS reached the intended people and businesses. For the March 2020 wave, subsidised firms experienced substantially greater revenue declines than unsubsidised firms: the modal reduction in revenue for subsidised firms was about 50%. It also observes larger revenue losses relative to a year earlier for subsidised firms in the Extension and Resurgence waves, but revenue changes for the March 2021 wave are confounded by

ELECTION 2023 the March 2020 effects.

The subsidy payments were tied to firms, so it was less effective in supporting more precarious jobs and workers.

Second, are the effects of the WSS on firm survival and resilience over the short (6 months) and medium (12 months) term.

The reports estimate receiving WSS payments positively affected firm survival rates over the following 12 months for three of the four WSS waves. However, subsidised firms experienced slower subsequent employment growth than non-subsidised firms.

Third, the reports analyse the effects of the wage subsidy scheme on worker level outcomes. It estimates positive effects of WSS receipt on job-retention over both the short term (6-months) and medium term (12-months) for the March 2020, Extension and March 2021 waves; and roughly zero effects for the Resurgence wave. It also finds positive employment effects for workers over the short term for the March 2020, Extension and March 2021 waves, and over the medium term for the March 2020 and Extension waves; and slightly negative effects for the Resurgence wave. However, conditional on being employed, the reports estimate workers who received March 2020 wage subsidy payments experienced slower subsequent monthly earnings growth than comparable non-subsidised workers. The estimates for the later waves are more mixed.

There is no compelling evidence the WSS supported non-viable firms. However, the higher survival rate and lower

employment growth of subsidised firms suggests the WSS may have kept firms with poorer growth prospects in operation.

The reports also find no systematic evidence firms did not comply with

and to a lesser degree the Extension-wave.

The value for money of the WSS was calculated using cost-benefit analysis from a societal perspective, encompassing the New Zealand economy as a

their obligations to pass on subsidy payments to workers and endeavour to pay them at least 80% of their usual earnings.

However, some subsidy receiving firms paid workers at either the parttime or full-time subsidy rate, or at 80% of their prior earnings, during periods of subsidy receipt. This was relatively more likely to occur during the original (March 2020) subsidy wave,

whole. The subsidy was treated as a transfer (from the government into the wider NZ economy) and negative transfers (government money repaid or not spent, i.e.– subsidy repayments and unemployment support avoided) were subtracted from this. As analysis was done from a societal perspective, transfers were included as both a cost and a benefit, but with a

20% deadweight burden of raising tax revenue added to the cost side. The cost of administering the wage subsidy was also included.

The quantified benefits of the wage subsidy were increased output associated with people remaining in employment, and the value of the wellbeing they experienced from avoiding unemployment.

Outcomes were calculated by employment months gained over the short (6 month) and medium (12 month) term. The March 2020 wave had a favourable benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.20 after 6 months and 1.45 after 12 months. The 12-month ratio was 1.14 for the Extension wave, 0.83 for the Resurgence wave, and 1.63 for the March 2021 wave.

The first report concluded that, overall, the Covid-19 wage subsidy represented value for money. It allowed more workers to remain in employment and more sole traders to remain in business, than was predicted would occur without a wage subsidy.

To understand if the effectiveness of the wage subsidy as an intervention remained stable over time, it is recommended an evaluation is done on the August 2021 wage subsidy.

The value for money analysis could only identify direct benefits of the wage subsidy and so was limited to examining microeconomic outcomes.

It is recommended an investigation is done of fiscal interventions to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the New Zealand economy, to determine their effectiveness at a macroeconomic level.

infrastructurenews.co.nz 69

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Are you maximising the benefits of your AEP? The Accredited Employer Programme (AEP) can be appealing and costeffective for large employers seeking to lower costs and self-manage injury claims within their workforce, Gallagher Bassett Chief Client Officer Steven Walsh says

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acilitated by the Accident Compensation Corporate (ACC), this scheme allows large organisations to take control of their ACC levies, actively manage their Health and Safety environment and the total cost of when employees injure themselves at work, often resulting in better outcomes for their injured employees. The AEP enables the organisation to ‘step’ into the shoes of the ACC, but it does come complete with the obligations that ACC has to injured workers. These responsibilities when managing workplace injury management claims require considerable skill, time, knowledge and 70 infrastructurenews.co.nz

resourcing – a limitation for many organisations wishing to leverage the many benefits of participating in the AEP. These limitations can play out in many forms, including; not having a claims team with adequate knowledge of the correct adjudication and legislation to apply which can result in additional claims costs, lack of independence when handling colleagues claims, availability of advanced claims management platforms and best practice, lack of data and analytics when coupled with manual and antiquated processes resulting in excessive administrative costs, not to

mention the advances and best practice in the rehabilitation. These risks are only compounded when staff retention is challenged. To counteract these challenges, part of the ACC’s AEP program allows companies to manage their claims through a third-party claims administrator (TPA).

TPA’s support a variety of government departments and agencies, well-known large New Zealand businesses and self-insured companies with their workplace injury claims, applying their highly skilled people to problem solve those existing AEP challenges and deliver superior claims management and

resolution. We spoke to Steven Walsh, Chief Client Officer, Gallagher Bassett, New Zealand on how the AEP program can be maximised through partnering with a TPA.

First, what are the constraints of using the AEP program?

The AEP program can be ideal for large employers that have the desire and capabilities to take control of their workplace health and safety practices and have a ‘hands on’ involvement to ensure that injured employees are provided with the best possible outcome when injured perform-

ELECTION 2023 ing their duties at work, which, with the impact of COVID-19, now includes those injured when working from home.

Meeting the criteria set by ACC To be eligible to join the ACC’s AEP program, employers must meet various requirements including being able to: • Demonstrate their experience and commitment to effective workplace health and safety • Show their commitment to preventing injuries and providing the support and time for rehabilitation should it be needed • The policies, procedures, and resources for injury prevention, claims management and rehabilitation provide audited financial records that show the business’ financial strength and stability to meet the costs of their employees’ cover and rehabilitation • Pass an on-site audit conducted by an ACC approved auditor Even after your business has been accepted into the program, there are still limitations and obligations to the program that need to be understood before deciding if the AEP program is best suited for you. These include, but aren’t limited to: • Ensuring that you have the right cover plan option for your business. Options include whether the business will assume responsibility for claim management only until the end of the nominated claim management period and the financial liability

•

•

ceases at the end of the claim management period, or will the business assume responsibility for claim management to the end of your claim management period but financial liability remains for the lives of the claims.

Responsibility to the employee is not always capped (but it can be) – if an employee is injured or harmed in a fatal or serious workplace injury, you, as their employer, could be liable for supporting their financial needs for the entirety of the claim. The claim does not expire if your business leaves the AEP program.

Managing your participation in the AEP requires time and dedicated resources. If you do not follow the program, or manage your employees claims accordingly, the cost and time requirements of being part of the AEP program could be greater than your previous levy.

How can a business overcome these challenges?

Navigating the AEP requirements when managing claims can be daunting – which is where TPAs, like Gallagher Bassett, come in to offer support and guidance to your business.

It might seem counter-intuitive to partner with a claims administrator to manage your own people’s claims, but it’s often far more effective (in both costs and time) than managing your AEP internally or simply reverting

to the status quo of having ACC manage your injured employees. When you work with our team, you get access to a group of industry experts who are committed to a career in claims. We can provide claims professionals that are knowledgeable and experts in their field, that are continually instigating best practice in injury management, in an environment where they have development and growth opportunities to build a career at a company where claims are the core of what we do.

This means your employees receive tried and tested end-to-end support. From supporting businesses with their injury prevention strategies, to having dedicated claims managers who know your company’s people, processes and policies like their own, our team partners with yours at every step.

Companies who engage a TPA to overcome these challenges often see better rehabilitation outcomes and reduced return to work timeframes, meaning healthier employees and a healthier bottom line.

Latest changes In July, the Minister for ACC, Peeni Henare announced the Accredited Employer Programme (AEP) consultation outcomes.

The incoming changes are based on the feedback we received from workers, employers, health and safety experts and other interested parties during several rounds of co-design and the public consultation.

These changes are aimed at improving AEP so that it: • puts worker wellbeing at the centre of AEP • achieves better out-

comes by improving the oversight and guidance ACC provides to AEs • incentivises AEs to continually improve their performance.

Through the consultation, the Minister received detailed and considered feedback which helped to shape the final decisions.

A summary of the submissions can be found on the MBIE website.

Summary of consultation submissions Most of the publicly consulted proposed changes will go ahead, with amendments to the proposed health and safety assessment requirements and the full and final settlement for Accredited Employers on the Full Self Cover Plan.

To help us strengthen the programme, we will be refining AEP and providing further opportunities for Accredited Employers and other stakeholders to provide feedback over the coming months.

The new AEP framework will be effective from 1 April 2024. However, during the Levy Year 2024- 2025 Accredited Employers will have time to prepare and make any changes needed to start meeting the new requirements the following year. From 1 April 2025, all new requirements including performance monitoring come into effect.

The public consultation was undertaken by MBIE on behalf of the Minister for ACC and closed on 6 November. Further information on the consultation is available on the MBIE website.

Consultation on proposed changes to ACC’s Accredited Employers Programme

infrastructurenews.co.nz 71

ELECTION 2023

The great unlearning

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Safety News and AsiaPacific Infrastucture publisher Mike Bishara accepts an invitation from Optimum Training to join a four-hour safety training session

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harboured a fervent hope that 25 years of development and refinement of Wayne Milicich’s injury prevention model might contain a few surprises.

The prospect of four hours in what I suspected could be a moralising lecture about how to lift a box was not enthralling. I could see, as we shuffled into the training centre, that the rest of the class felt the same, with a range of resigned, bored and cynical faces.

We were wrong. Boy, were we wrong. Participants soon learned “it was all about them” and their individual quality of life. And how 30 seconds after the training would break the harmful muscle memory that had taken over the way we did things.

“The programme is about unlearning what we learned between the ages of about eight to 13 years old and restoring all the movement patterns that we learned naturally during the first five to eight years of our life,” says Milicich.

For example, children all demonstrate best balance, unlike most adults. About 80 percent of the adult population “half breathe” from the apical area of the lungs as opposed to the diaphragm and lower lobes of the lungs, according to Milicich. “Children all naturally breathe from their belly, diaphragm, unless they are stressed.”

The most hardened cynics in our group quickly became engaged in the programme through a series of 72 infrastructurenews.co.nz

Click here for more information

Optimum Training manager Dwane Stewart with an eager team of learners practical truths, illustrated by a range of interactions, sometimes with a workmate.

We emerged half a working day later wondering who to sue for the preventable harm I have inflicted by following instructions. Life quality did not require lifetime dedication, just a reordering of basic instincts and tossing out a few myths.

For our group, the quality of life had become anchored forever around balance and the 70/30 weight split between heels and toes.

We were converts to breathing out like weightlifters, sticking out our butts and letting tummies and abdominals do their thing - we discarded posture misinformation and stress and replaced it with comfort, a safe and secure back and no pain.

Optimum’s programme is of suggested solutions, not imperatives. “When we do this training, it is to benefit the individual. The company

clips the ticket and gets a benefit only when the individual benefits.”

“You cannot stand on a platform and tell people they are wrong. When a person’s belief is challenged, they will do anything to defend that truth as it is what they believe and know and have lived by. The only way to expose the false belief is to lead someone to find the truth for themselves.

In most cases following instilled poor habits is akin to

tapping yourself lightly on the head with a hammer for years. Do it enough times and you will end up permanently damaged.

You cannot separate work safety and whanau safety – they are two sides of the same coin, according to Milicich. Health and safety at home and work are just a component of our life quality. Not something that is separated out with its own rules to be applied at specific times and locations.

To a person, we emerged

70/30 balance is at the core of a quality of life

ELECTION 2023

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ready to retrain our misguided muscle memory with the 30-secondsa-day-worth of drills to reprogramme our muscle memory that had taken us just four hours to master.

“The training empowers people to work out the truth for themselves and trust themselves. You are the only person who can determine what works best for you. Trust yourself to make a good call,” says Milicich.

With no pen, paper or tables in the room, this programme is “pure adult facilitation of kinesthetic learning followed by cognitive understanding. It is simple to restore what was once in the muscle memory when we were five to eight years old. The original neural pathways just open up again,” he says. We learned and now retain what we learned.

“Stress is recognized as a major cause of MSD and auto-immune disease. We help people understand how their body manifests stress and equip them with the understanding and tools to manage themselves during stressful times,” says Milicich.

Optimum’s facilitation process has four specific steps.

When applied correctly to the session, most often the learner has no idea of what

has happened, but they do recognise that their life has changed for the better.

Our session began with participation exercises which showed the overriding importance of balance.

The 70/30 rationale was enough to consign to the bin, along with a flurry of other medical myths, the long-held and totally wrong “bend your knees and keep your back straight” doctrine.

It soon became apparent why Optimum’s quality of life programme is used by many of the country’s most astute corporations in an age where time “off the floor” is critical to the bottom line and many companies look only to tick the boxes of compliance.

The benefits are equally cost effective, available and absorbed by SMEs. My class had only nine other participants so having a cast of thousands is not essential – or even recommended.

“Move Smart Think Smart is about addressing the underlying causes of muscle and joint pain that occur as we interact with inert objects both at work and at home. Home injuries affect the workplace. Workplace injuries affect the home and family,” says Milicich.

“Either way the quality

of life of a person is compromised. The traditional medical model calls the problem ‘nonspecific back pain and occupational overuse’. In fact, the pain is about inadvertent personal misuse of the body -- it is very specific.”

The bio-medical model reckons back pain is normal. “No, it is not normal,” says Milicich. “It is common, and the medical model is unwittingly part of the problem.

“Good posture” is nothing more than an old wives’ tale based on the military model of control and it is still believed today. A teacher tells children to sit up straight as a means of controlling the class. It is now portrayed as good posture.

“The medical field is littered with information and advice that was eventually proven wrong and retracted. Some of our western cultural beliefs are based in nothing more than decades or centuries old beliefs and mores.

The sad thing is that more than 80 percent of MSD's are inadvertently and unwittingly self-inflicted. People hurt themselves as they interact with inert objects, and they don't even realise it, says Milicich.

“The only way a box can hurt someone is if it is flying

through the air and strikes them. Or if it is moving on a conveyor and they put their hand where they should not.

A spade and the ground are both inert. To suffer pain while digging a hole is the person hurting themselves as they interact with the spade and ground.

The pain is a direct result of poor skills and technique of movement -- self-inflicted pain.

Most people blame something or someone for this self-inflicted injury. At that point, only the symptom can be addressed with drugs and therapy.

The problem returns as they repeat their old thinking and poor technique once the symptom has eased.

“No one deliberately hurts themselves. Given the opportunity, everyone makes the right choice,” says Milicich.

To a person, everyone was engaged for the full duration of training, always relevant, interesting, practical and beneficial to each person. We felt equipped and empowered to take back responsibility for ourselves. I personally still muse over and apply the learnings. My years of knee pain has gone.

30-second daily drills to re-programme muscle memory

Wayne Milicich 07 8583040 027 291 1829 www.otl.nz Representatives NZ wide infrastructurenews.co.nz 73

ELECTION 2023

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