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Nick Leggett: Infrastructure NZ CEO on the Government making a greater push for foreign investment · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: So the Prime Minister means business and we know this
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: because he says it every time he talks growth. Growth, growth, growth, growth,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: growth growth. His latest announcement about growth is a two
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: day summit to entice interest in New Zealand projects. One
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: hundred world high profile investors, business leaders and construction companies
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: are expected to visit next month. Here's the PM. We
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: want people from all corners of the globe to know
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: that there's now a culture of saying yes in New Zealand,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: yes to investment, yes to innovation, and yes to getting
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: stuff done. So Infrastructure New Zealand CEO Nick Leggett joins
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  Speaker 1: me this morning. Come morning to you. Nick. Hello, have
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you been invited?
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: I told Climb the target at the Target audience here.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Well, you're there to talk. I thought that your whole
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: job was to talk up New Zealand and infrastructureing and
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: surely as infrastructure in New Zealand, you want some of
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: these overseas investors coming in to help you out.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: Well, I think what's important is that this is the
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: kind of a vent that shows that New Zealand is
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: open to business and that we are welcoming of people
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: who can help us build more infrastructure. Infrastructure you, as
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: we often talk about Andrew, is an enabler to not
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: just economic growth but also social progress. We've got a
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: big deficit in this country. We know we need more
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: transport infrastructure, we need schools, hospitals and also if you
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: think about water, there's a massive gaping hole there as well.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: So across the board we need to invest. And when
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: you think about projects that we talk about here, the
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: missing link is often the funding. Where is the money
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: coming from? And we've had we've gotten into this habit
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: of openly planning and putting together business cases, but the
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: money sort of side of things is what kills it.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: In Auckland, light rails a good example, and if you
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: think about it, let's get well moving. But we talk
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: big and we don't deliver and that has to change.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: And so I think the Prime Minister's got it right
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: in terms of actually who are the people that can
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  Speaker 2: help inject some funding but also bring some other expertise
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: so we do infrastructure better. And we know we have
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: a new culture of not just funding but actually building.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: That's why I asked you are you going do we
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: need to know who's coming to figure out how effective
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: this summit might be because if we're inviting the wrong people,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: if the wrong people are not coming, the right people
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: are not coming, then it's then it's just virtue signaling.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think that it's about it's a
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: new habit that we have to get into, right, It's
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: not all going to be fixed in one two day summer.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: But what we need to know, I think more importantly
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: is do we have projects that are ready to be
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: funded and built and once people actually show interest in
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: New Zealand, are the policy settings right? And so I
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: think there's still work to do there. And I think
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: that what we'd be more interested in is that something
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: comes out of the summer and that there's an ongoing
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: interest in the country, not just for two days in March,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: but next year, in five years time, so we can
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: really build that effective pipeline that we know we need
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: to build. We get the efficiencies out of actually having
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: more than one project on the garden and that ongoing pipeline,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: because that's the best way for New Zealand to overcome
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: all the challenges it's got. We don't build infrastructure well here,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: we don't line the funding up, we don't line the
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: projects up there's also I want to make this really clear,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: it's not just about foreign direct investment. There is capital
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: in New Zealand that is keen to invest if you
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  Speaker 2: think can we savor ewe Mardi. There are a whole
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: lot of opportunities and we've got to be open to
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  Speaker 2: all of them if we're going to get our infrastructure
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  Speaker 2: builds done.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Nick Legantt, I thank you for your time. Nick Leggantt
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: is the CEO of Infrastructure in New Zealand. And yes,
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: we can invite the people, but do we have the
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: projects ready to go? Do we have the infrastructure ready
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: to go? Do we have the plans that we can
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: say to these people, this is what we're thinking about.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: Do you want to be part of it? And that's
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: all on the government.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: to News Talks it be from five am weekdays, or
• 4:22
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