ACT will boost infrastructure in productive Queenstown

Only ACT has a clear policy to get Queenstown infrastructure caught up with the enormous pressure it faces, says ACT Leader David Seymour as he visits the town today.

“Tourism-heavy regions like Otago are disproportionately short on infrastructure, despite the huge tax dividends they’re passing to central government,” says Mr Seymour.

“Tourism is now the country’s single biggest earner, but the regions producing this profit aren’t allowed to keep the tax revenue needed to upgrade infrastructure.

“ACT has a policy to automatically fund infrastructure in the areas of greatest need, like Queenstown.

“Councils already record the value of building consents. ACT would simply return half the GST from these consents to the local council for use on vital infrastructure projects. This means funding would automatically be allocated to productive regions, instead of getting collected by Wellington and divvied out in political favours.

“This would mean a big boost in infrastructure funding for the Otago region, which punches above its weight in building consents due to pressure from tourism and migration. In fact, with building consents valued at over $3.5 billion over the last 12 months, ACT’s policy would mean an extra $266 million for Otago infrastructure.

“Every other party pretends infrastructure will fix itself. Only ACT has a clear, costed, workable solution to chronic underfunding of infrastructure. “

ENDS

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