The Government needs to unleash the construction sector’s ability to create thousands of jobs, National’s Building and Construction spokesperson Andrew Bayly says.

“The building and construction industry offers one of the best opportunities for rejuvenating our economy because it employs a large number of New Zealanders, and many of its products are sourced locally.

“Spending money wisely on projects that deliver good value and employ more people is vital, but we risk not achieving those objectives in the rush to deliver shovel-ready projects.

“One of the biggest issues confronting the sector is consenting. Kāinga Ora has the ability to fast-track its own build programme with little or no involvement from councils but the Government has done little to address consenting delays across the rest of the sector.

“The Government must deal with the wider issues across our construction sector rather than just providing bespoke solutions for its own government agencies.

To maximise the construction sector’s potential, National would also like to see:

· Greater use of technology, such as the Artisan app developed by BRANZ, to reduce the number of physical inspections during building work as it occurs

· Advance spending on government projects, particularly in provincial areas

· Greater support and innovative funding for new building projects, such as providing some form of underwriting of material costs for new developments

“It’s vital the Government places sufficient weight on the domestic building and construction sector rather than engaging overseas firms for projects that employ few New Zealanders and see revenues head overseas.”

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