This Bill amends the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga Act 2019. The purpose of the Bill is to make 2 changes to the roles and responsibilities of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga (the Commission).

In addition to its main function, which is “to co-ordinate, develop, and promote an approach to infrastructure that encourages infrastructure, and services that result from the infrastructure, that improve the well-being of New Zealanders”, the Commission currently has 6 additional functions.

The first change this Bill makes is to remove the additional function of providing support services to current and proposed infrastructure projects. The reason for the change is that this function was transferred to other Crown infrastructure entities on 1 December 2024 as part of a set of reforms to the Crown infrastructure system. Legislation is required to amend the Commission’s additional functions to help avoid any actual or perceived overlap of functions between the Commission and other entities.

The second change the Bill makes is to add a new additional function of providing advice in relation to current and proposed infrastructure projects.

Together, these changes will focus the advisory role of the Commission. Shifting its role in infrastructure projects from supporting to advisory will allow it to focus on large, complex challenges, at-risk projects, and programme reviews where additional advice is needed by Government. This is more consistent with the Commission’s broader mandate.

The Treasury is required to prepare a disclosure statement to assist with the scrutiny of this Bill. The disclosure statement provides access to information about the policy development of the Bill and identifies any significant or unusual legislative features of the Bill.

A copy of the statement can be found at http://legislation.govt.nz/disclosure.aspx?type=bill&subtype=government&year=2025&no=156