Simon Court MP, ACT – Under-Secretary for RMA Reform and Infrastructure
Anyone stuck in morning gridlock on SH16 knows that North-West Auckland is being choked by transport failure. Helensville, Kumeu, Westgate – this entire region is growing fast, but the infrastructure hasn’t kept up.
The NZTA board’s endorsement of the Northwest Busway is a long-overdue win. It will enable up to 9000 passengers per hour to be transported in each direction. The journey time from Brigham Creek to the city centre for example, will reliably be 25 minutes all day, every day. But this only scratches the surface.
I came to Parliament to get things built. As ACT’s Infrastructure Spokesperson and Under-Secretary for RMA Reform, I’m working to clear the barriers that have held us back for years: red tape, weak planning, and glacial consenting.
We’re fixing the rules with a new RMA system – simpler, faster, and actually designed to deliver. A new National Policy Statement for Infrastructure will make it easier to consent major projects, not harder. But better rules alone won’t lay concrete. The biggest roadblock is still funding.
New Zealand faces an infrastructure shortfall worth tens of billions – thanks to years of delay, dithering, and do-nothing politics. And this Government won’t be fixing it with higher taxes. That’s a promise.
So where does that leave us? It means users like drivers, commuters and homeowners will need to contribute more to the infrastructure they use. That’s how the real world works. Roads and busways aren’t free, and pretending they are just delays the inevitable.
That’s why I’m leading changes to the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Act. It will let developers fund and deliver roads, pipes, and local infrastructure up front, without waiting for councils or bureaucrats. If you want homes and jobs, you need infrastructure now, not in 10 years.
For the big stuff like highways and rapid transit we need private capital at the table. Use it to build now and pay it off over time. Think of it like a mortgage for public works. It’s smart, it’s fast, and it means we stop kicking the can down the road.
But even this won’t be enough to close the gap.
Let’s take a lesson from New South Wales. Twenty years ago, they faced the same problem: crumbling roads, hospitals at capacity, and no cash to fix it. So they sold off assets the government didn’t need. By divesting from old power stations, ports and commercial holdings, they freed up cash to reinvest in schools, trains, hospitals and roads.
They didn’t cry into their Weet-Bix about who owned what, they just got on and built what was needed.
Next year, ACT will ask Kiwis a blunt question: Do you care whether the Government owns a hydro dam, a freight company, or a property valuation company? Or do you care that your kids might not see a new school or hospital in their lifetime?
We need to unlock capital now or we’ll still be stuck in traffic, waiting for progress that never comes. I believe Kiwis are ready to make the tough calls. Just like our Aussie cousins did. They chose growth over nostalgia and it paid off.
The people of North-West Auckland deserve better. And ACT is here to deliver it.
