Photo / Dean PurcellAside from the Roads of National Significance (Rons), the pipeline for the next generation of national mega-projects is alarmingly thin. Stop-start investment, something New Zealand has become infamous for, drives talent offshore and inflates costs when we eventually decide to build again. A lumpy pipeline also undermines our ability to adopt engineering technologies, build institutional knowledge and by consequence, achieve productivity gains. The funding commitment is the most important commitment needed to build a project, particularly a massive one that will go on for many years. Without a pipeline behind them, they are the end of an era rather than the beginning of a new one.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 04, 2026 18:30 UTC