6. Question No. 6—InfrastructureDANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast) to the Minister for InfrastructureQuestion No. 6—Infrastructure6. DANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast) to the Minister for Infrastructure: What steps is the Government taking to address New Zealand's infrastructure deficit?Hon CHRIS BISHOP (Minister for Infrastructure): This morning I laid out the steps the Government is taking to close New Zealand's infrastructure deficit. Estimates vary on the size but let's call it $100 billion or more—that's 80 Transmission Gully motorways. We have outlined a plan to fix this deficit: firstly doing a better job of maintaining our existing assets; secondly a credible pipeline of infrastructure projects—as part of that developing a national infrastructure plan over 30 years—thirdly reducing the barriers that are holding back infrastructure delivery such as the Resource Management Act; fourthly improving value for money; and fifthly new ways of funding and financing infrastructure.Dana Kirkpatrick: What will the 30-year national infrastructure plan involve?Hon CHRIS BISHOP: I've asked the Infrastructure Commission to develop a 30-year national infrastructure plan by the end of next year. This will include a national view of infrastructure projects that are planned and are being planned an assessment of infrastructure priorities and an analysis of long-term infrastructure needs. The purpose of the plan is to demonstrate a pipeline of major projects that make New Zealand a place worth doing business. We need the talent and the capital in this country and part of that is to demonstrate the scale of the opportunities in the coming decade. The 30-year plan will help get our infrastructure system humming again.Dana Kirkpatrick: What did the Minister say about the Government's proposal to establish a national infrastructure agency?Hon CHRIS BISHOP: We'll be establishing a new national infrastructure agency by 2025 to connect offshore capital with New Zealand domestic infrastructure opportunities amongst other jobs. The public sector infrastructure landscape is a crowded one and there are overlapping roles and functions so rather than rushing into establishing a new agency I've commissioned a piece of work to fully understand what the Crown wants and needs from a high-performing infrastructure system and who's doing what in the system and what needs to change. Treasury's leading this work alongside the Infrastructure Commission and I'll have more to say on that very soon.Dana Kirkpatrick: How does the Government intend to improve and increase the use of infrastructure funding and financing tools?Hon CHRIS BISHOP: The coalition Government's very open to opportunities for the private sector to invest its capital to deliver high-quality infrastructure for New Zealand. These projects leveraging private finance obviously need to stack up based on cost-benefit analysis and the public good. To pave the way for more projects that leverage private finance I'm asking officials to modernise the Crown's infrastructure governance procurement funding and financing and asset management policies and frameworks. Solving New Zealand's infrastructure challenges will be hard but with a good plan and a clear target we can do it—and this Government will deliver.