Infrastructure & home building slumping on Govt funding freeze

New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:

1. The Lead: A global survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found surveyors in Aotearoa-NZ reported sharp contractions in activity and expectations for infrastructure and public housing in the March quarter because of project cancellations and funding freezes for councils by the new Government. The slump made New Zealand the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong, the survey published this morning found. (Paying subscribers can see more detail and analysis below the paywall fold and in the podcast above.)

2. Just two motorways built under Public Private Partnership (PPP) schemes, Transmission Gully and Pūhoi to Warkworth, are costing $226 million a year to run and will cost a combined $5 billion by 2048, making up a seventh of Waka Kōtahi-NZTA’s annual motorway improvements budget, BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver Lewis reported this morning.

3. Associate education minister David Seymour has confirmed temporary funding will be put in place for the free school lunches programme until a review is completed, which means the Government is creating the same ‘fiscal cliff’ it accused Labour of leaving behind, RNZ’s Jo Moir reported last night.

4. The Government plans to cut the cost of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme by 50% by substituting fresh fruit and vegetables with packaged foods such as tinned fruit, muesli bars, bread and canned beans, BusinessDesk-$$$’s Cécile Meier and  Dileepa Fonseka reported this morning.

5. Oranga Tamariki is set to cut jobs in its international child protection team, which helps care for unaccompanied child refugees and investigate complex exploitation cases, Newshub’s Michael Morrah reported last night.

6. In good news for Wellington’s cycling commuters, the High Court has dismissed an attempt by Foodstuffs to block a cycleway planned alongside New World Thorndon on Molesworth St, NZ Herald’s Georgina Campbell reported last night.

(Paying subscribers can see more detail, analysis and links to documents and articles below the paywall fold and in the podcast above. We’ll open it up for public reading, listening and sharing if we get over 100 likes.)

Surveyors report Govt funding freeze is crunching activity