10 November 2003 Media release

Return to failed infrastructure policies of the past if NZ First and United support Brash-ACT government

New Zealand’s infrastructure will lurch back into chronic under-investment and periodic crisis if NZ First and United support a Don-Brash led National-Act government. Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton says.

“Periodic energy and transport crisis will be inevitable if New Zealand returns to the days when governments stood on the sidelines and did nothing. That is the recipe which Don Brash and Act are proud to promote, and NZ First and United say they could support in a Don Brash-led National-Act government.”

Jim Anderton told a conference on infrastructure and utilities he is amazed when he hears people saying New Zealand should go back to the policies of the eighties and nineties.

“For a long time, in the eighties and nineties, governments took a ‘hands off’ approach. The result was disastrous.

“Infrastructure investment is integral to lifting our economic performance. We are not going to harvest the wall of wood and turn it into highly processed furniture or houses unless roads get built where they are needed. We can’t grow our tourism industry and sell our produce to the world if our airline or railways threaten to collapse. We are not going to develop global software leaders without broadband infrastructure. We can’t expect world-scale manufacturing companies to locate here when the power isn’t reliable and you can’t transport goods across our largest city in a time and cost effective manner.

“The poor quality of much of our infrastructure today is impeding business growth. Regions with infrastructural issues need a partnership with the government to resolve those issues,” Jim Anderton told the utilities conference.

ENDS

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