The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission has released its National Infrastructure Plan, outlining what it describes as a practical and affordable pathway for delivering the infrastructure New Zealanders will rely on over the next 30 years.
The Plan sets out 16 recommendations aimed at strengthening the foundations of the country’s infrastructure system, alongside 10 priority areas for the coming decade. These include identifying cost-effective flood protection measures, addressing renewal backlogs in the water sector and restoring affordability, increasing hospital investment to meet the needs of an ageing population, and implementing time-of-use charging and road-user charges to improve performance across urban transport networks.
“While the Plan looks at the long term, it’s clear that we need to take action now. Weather events and infrastructure failures make very clear the importance of investing to renew and build resilience into the networks that sustain our way of life,” says Commission chief executive Geoff Cooper.
“We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done.
“Each year we invest just over $20 billion on infrastructure, yet on a dollar-for-dollar basis we achieve less than many of our more efficient international peers.”
“The Plan is ambitious, but centred on affordability,” Cooper says.
The Commission says the document provides decision-makers with a system-wide view of emerging pressures and highlights where investment is likely to deliver the greatest long-term value.
“The Plan responds to a period of immense change facing New Zealand. Demographic changes, the impacts of climate change, and technological innovations are all reshaping the demands on the hospitals, schools, water systems and transport networks that New Zealanders depend on every day,” Cooper says.
“Some of the infrastructure issues we’re facing have been decades in the making – and they’ll take time to fix.
“But New Zealand also faces acute pressures that require attention now. Addressing the top 10 priority areas identified in the Plan will result in visible infrastructure gains and support our longer-term recommendations for the next 30 years.
“The Plan does this by charting an affordable way to meet a diverse set of infrastructure demands over time and identifying how a large programme of significant investments such as roads, rapid transit, and hospitals can be prioritised and sequenced. In doing so, the Plan demonstrates a fundable and affordable programme of works that futureproofs existing services, while incrementally building on the network as the country grows and develops,” Cooper says.
The final Plan follows consultation on a draft released in June 2025. Feedback indicated strong agreement on the need for greater certainty, improved coordination and a sharper focus on delivery and affordability, which the Commission says has informed the final version.
“A plan by itself won’t change anything. The National Infrastructure Plan charts the course, but progress depends on how decision-makers, delivery agencies, industry, and communities use the Plan to do things differently,” Cooper says.
The National Infrastructure Plan is available online at www.tewaihanga.govt.nz.