It’s an apt metaphor for our crowded ports, choked roads, and creaking railsystem. Sometimes it really does feel like our national infrastructure has been smoking a pack a day since the 1970s. Somewhere between Minister Chris Bishop’s view of the infrastructure deficit as around 80 Transmission Gullys ($100 billion) and Infrastructure New Zealand’s take on the current deficit at $210b, it’s going to need a lot more than a stent to unclog these arteries.
At Tainui Group Holdings we have been trying to drive a material change in the Upper North Island supply chain.
Our recently opened Ruakura Inland Port and the surrounding 490ha Ruakura Superhub is Australasia’s largest integrated industrial and logistics hub. It’s already setting the pace for a far more productive and sustainable supply chain. That’s the formula that has attracted a global player like Maersk, who officially opened their new $150m temperature-controlled distribution centre last month, alongside Kmart’s new 40,000sq m distribution centre and flanked by local logistics champions Big Chill, Refrigafreighters, and PBT Express Freight.
When TGH launched its bold plans for an inland port in 2005, we certainly had no idea it would be nearly two decades before we’d see the locos rolling in, dropping off import containers and collecting Waikato-originated goods for export. There’s been plenty to learn from this “17-year overnight success”.
Vision has been our galvanising force at Ruakura. What kept us going through thick and thin was our vision of a vibrant hub and efficient logistics ecosystem to provide inter-generational economic wealth for our iwi while growing our economy and creating opportunities for tribal members – all on whenua returned to Waikato-Tainui under the 1995 settlement. It certainly wasn’t just a case of “build it and they will come”.
Credit where it’s due – in the case of Ruakura, a relatively modest investment by the Government through the Provincial Growth Fund and “Shovel Ready” programme, was the spark plug that ignited confidence for everyone involved.
TGH was absolutely “shovel ready”. Bulldozers were on site within a month – and commitments from some of the biggest names in global and regional logistics flowed soon after.
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop. Photo / Mark Mitchell
This strength of vision is equally important at the national level. Getting infrastructure done requires force of character and real leadership.
As we wring our hands over the state of the nation’s infrastructure, what is it that we’re actually working towards?
If we can articulate that vision, people will get behind it and pay for it if they see they can get the benefit of it.
According to the Infrastructure Commission, just under half (45 per cent) of our existing $287b stock of infrastructure is owned by central government, with local government chiming in with another quarter (26 per cent). I am a big believer that private ownership of infrastructure, including by iwi, can step up further to address many of the shortcomings New Zealand is facing today.
And government can play a key role through vision, leadership and signalling.
Today, investments are sprouting all along a Waikato Expressway, which was signaled a decade in advance. Ruakura Superhub is one investment of many now unfolding across the Auckland-Hamilton corridor due to the Expressway.
Looking ahead we also need to make the right decisions around types of infrastructure. Technology is changing – we’re witnessing the rise of AI, augmented reality, and virtual reality. These will require an exponential increase in computing power and communications capacity.
On a recent visit to Melbourne, I saw some of the new crop of vast data centres under construction. Alongside these, I see the demand for electricity going through the roof due to the electrification of industrial heat and power and more EVs. We need to go faster, to lay down infrastructure for technology.
The urgent question for our nation now is - are we seeking perfection and is that leading to procrastination? We can all take inspiration from the record time to design, consent, build and open Coromandel’s 125m Taparahi bridge on State Highway 25A. It opened three months ahead of schedule just before Christmas and it shows what we can achieve if lives depend on it.
Infrastructure, the great enabler, has been out of sight, out of mind for way too long. It’s 40 years too late having its moment in the sun, and we all have a responsibility to keep it there to have a decent shot at cleaning the arteries.
Chris Joblin chief executive of Tainui Group Holdings
