'What's fair? Providing and paying for infrastructure' overview
Our infrastructure networks are vital to our quality of life. Access to safe transportation, reliable electricity, mobile and internet services, and clean water is part of what makes New Zealand a great place to live, work and play.
But not everyone has the same access to our infrastructure. This could be because of where you live, who you are, or what you can afford. Access to quality infrastructure can help reduce the impacts of disadvantage.
Fast, affordable transport can mean access to more jobs, fast internet means accessible education and health services and clean water means healthier whānau.
How we plan, provide, pay and use infrastructure matters for how fairly and easily different people can get access to it. Ensuring that we all get the greatest value from our infrastructure investments – now and in the future.
So, should those who benefit most from infrastructure pay more? Should people who live in rural areas get the same access and quality of infrastructure as those in cities? Should the decisions we make today take in to account the needs of future generations? What’s fair?