“More than half of Labour’s so-called “shovel ready” projects haven’t had a shovel anywhere near them,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.

“Information obtained by the ACT Party shows the Government has only started 67 of the 150 so-called “shovel ready” projects it promised last July.

“The Government said at the time the projects were to be “shovel-ready or likely to be within six months.”

“But eight months after the list of projects was announced only 44 percent of the projects have had a shovel anywhere near them.

“The shovel ready projects were part of a $3 billion dollars fund. That money comes from taxpayers and needs to be paid back by future generations.

“The fund was announced in April last year. The list of projects for funding were announced in July. The Written Question from the Minister shows that as of February this year only 67 had been started.

“It’s no wonder the Government needed to start an “implementation unit.” Even when the projects are ready to go this hapless Government can’t implement them.

“When COVID first happened local councils cancelled a range of projects. Government should have worked with councils to ensure projects could continue, instead it started a list from scratch so it could try to claim the credit.

“If they’d just used a bit of critical thinking we wouldn’t be so far behind when it comes to critical infrastructure.

“The Government has amassed a mountain of debt that future generations will have to pay back. If it’s going to throw billions of dollars at infrastructure we need to ensure that money is well spent and delivered on time.”

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