“Tens of thousands of jobs are on the line as Labour sits on its hands over the shovel-ready project scheme,” National Party Leader Judith Collins said today.

Ms Collins said councils and communities had worked hard through the first two weeks of April to put forward hundreds of shovel-ready projects before Labour’s tight 14 April deadline.

More than three months after that deadline, Labour has agreed to just 30 projects going ahead. This is despite Labour’s Grant Robertson saying in mid-May that the full list be would unveiled “within weeks”.

“Labour never delivers,” Ms Collins said.

“Over 200,000 Kiwis are now receiving the unemployment benefit and more than 200,000 construction workers received the wage subsidy.

“Those 200,000 construction workers and their families need every shovel-ready project that meets the criteria to be funded right now if they are to be certain of keeping their jobs when the wage subsidy scheme ends in just a few weeks.

“The industry is screaming out for the work, to get the diggers moving. The delays cannot continue.

“Labour must release the full list of shovel-ready projects today, so that the construction industry can give certainty to those 200,000 families whose livelihoods are at risk. Labour must not keep the list secret another day longer.

“National has a comprehensive vision and plan to deliver infrastructure for New Zealand. National knows what it takes to get the diggers moving.”

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