Chief Executive's Upfront
Building a Productive Relationship with Government

There is much the recently elected Labour Government can do, in partnership with industry, to ensure quality infrastructure and housing, which is central to economic success and the welfare of New Zealanders in a world impacted by COVID-19.

Rob Gaimster, Chief Executive

Concrete NZ’s broad focus is to work towards optimising a resilient built environment that benefits all New Zealanders.

Working collaboratively with all levels of government will be key to achieving this outcome.

The concrete industry has identified a number of important strategic issues that it will target in its government relations work over the next three years.

RESILIENCE & SUSTAINABILITY
Predictable climate change policy is welcomed by the concrete industry, although decisions should be evidence-based and deliver pragmatic emission reduction results.

The Government must implement the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act to ensure New Zealand plays its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement.

Concrete NZ also supports the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) Building for Climate Change programme, as demonstrated by the New Zealand concrete industry’s vision to reduce emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

However, if the programme’s focus is solely on carbon reduction, it will lead to perverse outcomes, such as inappropriate materials selection for buildings.

In short, climate change regulation and government procurement must treat all building materials equitably. Government should articulate a building’s required performance and sustainability criteria through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), which will allow building professionals to select the most suitable materials.

BUILDING REGULATORY SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT
Concrete NZ will continue its call for a review of the Building Regulatory System, which based on engagement between the regulator and industry should target regulations, such as New Zealand Standards, that support a quality built environment.

Through suitable funding and meaningful consultation, Government needs to ensure the building regulatory system is continually reviewed to improve productivity and quality, keep pace with modern construction methods and avoid unintended consequences of efforts to reduce emissions.

CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE COVID-19 RECOVERY
Government support for all areas of the construction and infrastructure sectors will be crucial to driving post-COVID-19 employment and economic activity.

This should also address critical shortages of housing supply and further up-grading of education, health, transport and three waters infrastructure.

Job creation through fast-tracked, large-scale ‘shovel-ready’ projects, and addressing deferred maintenance across infrastructure, schools and hospitals, will be critical to helping New Zealand emerge from recession.

INVESTMENT IN CONCRETE ROADS
Concrete NZ would like to see Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) adopt concrete pavement solutions for low-speed high-stress applications, such as roundabouts, immediately, and also develop a more informed understanding of how concrete road pavements can help deliver New Zealand’s land transport objectives.

The case for how concrete roads can provide cost competitive and durable solutions on key transport routes is more persuasive than ever, yet continues to be ignored by NZTA, as it has been by its predecessors for decades.

The recent high-profile, early pavement failures on the Kapiti and Waikato Expressways add further weight and urgency to the need for NZTA to update its technical guidance and standards, as well as revise its risk/reliability criteria.

This plays out against a backdrop ideally suited to concrete’s credentials as a road pavement material, in which Government has pledged to be carbon zero by 2050 and committed to record levels of investment in transport infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery.

Concrete NZ urges the NZTA to partner with industry and undertake research, including building a trial section of road, as a preliminary step in realising the cost competitive and durable solutions concrete roads can offer New Zealand’s key transport routes.

CONSTRUCTION & INFRASTRUCTURE CAPABILITY & CAPACITY
Developing people capability and capacity across the construction and infrastructure sectors in another strategic issue that government can work with industry to address.

For instance, the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) must result in a system which supports employers and apprentices in the construction and infrastructure.

Issuing entry visas to fill short term skill and capacity gaps where required will alleviate pressure in this area, as will working with the concrete industry to regulate concrete placing.

Developing people capability and capacity will be key to the construction and infrastructure sectors supporting COVID-19 economic recovery. Across both sectors proficiency must be enhanced, immigration policy tailored to address skill shortages, and RoVE provide outcomes that build on current strengths and listen to all stakeholders.