What’s fair when it comes to paying for infrastructure? Insights and findings

This report summarises the findings of our What’s fair? Providing and paying for infrastructure research programme. This in-depth research programme was based on a range of research methods including a literature review, key stakeholder interviews, a public perceptions survey, and analysis of data from Stats NZ including the Household Economic Survey.

Key findings

• The average New Zealand household spends $13,500 per year on infrastructure. Higher income households pay more in total on infrastructure, but less as a proportion of income.
• There is more diversity in spending patterns within income groups than between them.
• New Zealanders hold a range of views about what are fair ways to pay for infrastructure services and these views often differ across sectors. For example, three-quarters of New Zealanders thought it was fair to pay for electricity and water based on usage, but only one-third thought it was a fair way to pay for roads.
• There is a general expectation in New Zealand that location and cost to supply will not be a barrier to receiving a minimum level of infrastructure service. However, this does not mean that all households enjoy the same level of service quality.