Parties spar over construction crisis

National Party leader Simon Bridges is wooing the construction industry with a promise to ‘‘double down’’ on infrastructure and planning reforms.

At the Constructive conference in Wellington, Bridges said the Government’s mass house building project was ‘‘going nowhere’’.

He also said National would reform the Resource Management Act, reforms which had almost come into play in 2011 but failed, and thereafter were stymied by the then-Opposition.

National would support whatever was good about the Government’s strategy for construction and infrastructure.

‘‘But what I won’t do is I won’t vote for rinky dinky little reforms to favour one development here or one little project over there.

‘‘If Phil Twyford’s gotta to do it, he should do it for all of you and not a few favoured ones who happen to have the ear of [Regional Development Minister] Shane Jones or someone.’’

Twyford, the Urban Development Minister, later responded to the RMA idea with scepticism, saying that during the last four years of the previous Government, his party had offered to support planning reforms and that offer had never been taken up. Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford

‘‘These characters had nine years to improve the RMA, nine years and all they did was make it more expensive and more complicated.

‘‘The fact that they think that by amending the RMA legislation we can solve the problem actually makes me think that it’s not about allowing our towns and cities to grow and build more affordable housing.

‘‘That makes me think that the real agenda is to weaken the environmental protections of the RMA.’’

Bridges did not outline firm plans but said they would revolve around faster consenting, ensuring a strong infrastructure pipeline and getting councils on board. It would then get out of the way of the market to let it do what it did best.

Twyford outlined the Government’s KiwiBuild plans, its own infrastructure pipeline, and its commitment to more apprenticeships and training.

Addressing the building industry’s concerns could not be done in isolation from other social issues, he said.

‘‘But we’ve always believed in pursuing that goal, this is a generational opportunity to build a bigger, more competitive and capable construction industry, with larger firms that can innovate and specialise in technology.’’

He hoped the Government’s approach would help to reduce the volatility of the real estate sector, so that the building sector was more sustainable.

‘‘These characters had nine years to improve the RMA.’’