1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 This submission on the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill 2025 (the Bill) is made by The New Zealand Initiative (the Initiative), a Wellington-based think tank supported primarily by major New Zealand businesses. In combination, our members employ more than 150,000 people. The Initiative undertakes research contributing to the development of sound public policies in New Zealand.

1.2 The Initiative undertakes research that contributes to the development of sound public policies in New Zealand, advocating for a competitive, open, and dynamic economy and a free, prosperous, fair, and cohesive society.

1.3 The Initiative’s members span the breadth of the New Zealand economy. The views expressed in this submission are those of the author rather than the Initiative’s members.

1.4 This submission should be read alongside the Initiative’s draft research report Infrastructure Finance Reform: The Institutional Pathway Toward Elastic Infrastructure Supply (Blaschke, forthcoming), which is appended. That report provides the analytical and evidential foundation for the recommendations made here.

1.5 The Initiative supports the Bill. Its changes are directionally correct and should enable greater uptake of the Infrastructure Funding and Financing (IFF) model. However, the Bill optimises the current model without setting a path toward the institutional architecture that competitive urban land markets ultimately require. With modest additions, the Bill can become the foundation for a genuine transition strategy rather than a terminal reform.