Bridging the Infrastructure Gap

This was a public webinar. You can watch a recording of it below, or listen to it in podcast form here.

There is broad agreement that Aotearoa New Zealand faces a large shortfall in terms of the quantity of infrastructure the country needs, and the quality of what already exists. In addition, the country faces emerging challenges such as climate change and a population that is both growing and ageing rapidly, with much of this growth likely to happen in a small number of cities.

Watch our panel of experts to hear what should be done about it.

We shared the key findings from our latest report with WSP in New Zealand, Bridging the Infrastructure Gap: funding and financing for a resilient Aotearoa New Zealand. The webinar drew on the expertise of the panel to delve in more depth into some of the key funding and financing tools, including debt financing, public-private partnerships, city deals, road tolls, value capture, taxation, and more.

Crucially, our expert panel addressed the pressing issue of how to spread the upcoming costs fairly between current and future residents of Aotearoa. The panel also took questions from the audience.

The panel included:

• Vincent Minett– Vinny is the Director of Investments at WSP in New Zealand, advising the Government and Private Sector on the commercial and financial elements of major public sector infrastructure projects. His finance degree, background in construction, and experience on a number of large New Zealand and Canadian infrastructure projects has provided him with unique insights into the industry.
• Kali Mercier– Kali is the WSP Fellow and Deputy Director of the Helen Clark Foundation. Kali has an extensive background in law, policy, and international development, which has taken her to Berlin, London, Mexico City and Botswana. Before coming to the Helen Clark Foundation, Kali worked as Principal Advisor at the Ministry of Justice, Policy Director at the NZ Drug Foundation and as a human rights advocate for Amnesty UK and other charities overseas.
• Simon Randall– Simon is Local Government New Zealand’s Policy and Advocacy Manager, joining the organisation in 2023. He has an extensive background in local government, including as an elected member and in leadership roles in operations, strategy, and governance at Auckland Council. Funding and financing is a key focus area for LGNZ.
• Leilani Frew– Leilani Frew is the Deputy Secretary at Treasury responsible for overseeing the NZ Government’s activities and performance in the capital and export credit markets, investments in infrastructure, and urban growth and ownership interests in the Crown’s commercial entities and financial institutions. With a career spanning over 25 years, Leilani is a respected senior executive with extensive global infrastructure, energy and finance experience. She has held leadership roles in global investment banks, Australian banks and the Australian and State public sectors.