In September 2024, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Hon Christopher Luxon released the New Zealand Government’s Action Plan for Q4 2024 (Q4 Action Plan) announcing a “strong focus on the delivery of modern, reliable infrastructure as part of a major effort to make it easier to get things built” and “includes clearing away the barriers to growth and development through…a fresh approach to the funding and financing of infrastructure.”
The Q4 Action Plan, released on 30 September and available here, included the following plans:
- establishing the National Infrastructure Agency centred on administrating Government infrastructure funds (further information available here);
- passing the Fast-track Approvals Bill to expedite delivery of key regional and national projects;
- introducing a further amendment to the Resource Management Act to cut through red and green tape restricting growth in the infrastructure, energy, housing, and farming sectors;
- passing Cabinet decisions in respect of financing tools for housing developments and allowing greater use of road tolling; and
- introducing legislation to support the delivery of offshore wind farms.
In addition to the Q4 Action Plan, Associate Finance Minister, Hon David Seymour spoke to incoming changes to the Overseas Investment Act 2005 (the Act) regulating the Overseas Investment Office (the New Zealand equivalent of Australia’s Foreign Investments Review Board (or FIRB)), available here.
To “get New Zealand off the bench”, the New Zealand Cabinet has agreed on a set of principles benchmarked by the starting point that a foreign investment can proceed unless there is an identified risk to national interests. Broadly, the amendments will:
- reduce significant compliance costs, delays, and uncertainty of outcomes for foreign investors;
- fast track the assessment process by adopting the new starting point detailed above and consolidating the Act’s core tests (investor test, benefit test, and national interest test);
- grant the Government flexibility in their detailed scrutiny of foreign investments and imposing of conditions; while
- retaining the current scope of assessment for all foreign investments.
The Government plans to pass their amending legislation before the end of the calendar year to escape their rating of the lowest “openness to investment” rating (relative to comparable developed countries), promoting the flow of funds from foreign investors.
We will continue to monitor, and keep our clients in the loop on, further developments and potential opportunities in the New Zealand infrastructure space as well as broadly across the Asia Pacific region.
