The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has published the results of the third round of the Infrastructure Priorities Programme (IPP).

The IPP was set up as a process for central and local government, private organisations, and individuals to submit proposals that were assessed independently against clear and consistent criteria.

"We started accepting voluntary applications to the IPP in 2024. Since then, we've had nearly 150 proposals submitted and endorsed a total of 47 proposals as infrastructure priorities.” says Andy Hagan, General Manager – Investment at Te Waihanga.

The five newly endorsed proposals in round three were mostly submitted by organisations across central and local government. These projects were endorsed at either stage 1 or 2. Stage 1 proposals are where the applicant has highlighted a priority problem, while stage 2 endorsement means that the applicant has highlighted a priority problem and has gone through the process of developing a list of possible solutions.

Applications to the IPP are no longer being accepted while the Commission and the Treasury develop a new process for infrastructure investment assurance for central government infrastructure projects. Endorsements will remain publicly available.

A new investor assurance process

The IPP results follow the announcement in April by the Minister for Infrastructure, Hon Chris Bishop, that the Commission and Treasury will work together to develop a new external investment assurance process for central government projects.

Te Waihanga will coordinate the delivery of the new external assurance process for infrastructure investments, while Treasury will continue to manage the Investment Management system, policy settings and coordination of external assurance for non-infrastructure projects.

The Commission is now working closely with Treasury to design and build the new investment assurance process, due to go to Cabinet for approval in September, ready to launch on 1 November. While that work is the current focus, the Commission will consider whether applications will be accepted from outside of central government agencies in the future.

"While we’re no longer accepting new IPP applications we are using learnings from the it to develop the new investment assurance process. We are working closely with Treasury, who is leading the new investment external assurance policy, and those in the sector to ensure that this new process is fit the purpose in giving Ministers more confidence as they make investment decisions for the infrastructure needs of New Zealanders," says Hagan.