27 May 2025
Last Thursday, the Government announced its Budget 2025 – and infrastructure and tertiary education were strong focuses.
The continued investment in infrastructure is a welcome step in addressing New Zealand’s long-standing infrastructure deficit.
Key investments include:
- $1 billion investment to upgrade and expand hospitals across the country
- $712 million capital and $234 million operating for new classrooms and school property maintenance
- $464 million capital and $141 million operating for rail maintenance
- $219 million in additional operating funding to complete recovery works on local roads that were damaged in the 2023 North Island weather events
- $50 million for upgrades to mental health facilities.
Although Engineering New Zealand acknowledge that additional infrastructure funding is positive, we know a more even flow of funding is better for retaining the skills we need for the future.
Immediate action is required to reduce the delays between project announcements and getting work to market. We will continue to urge the Government to move quickly to support our workforce.
In addition to investment in infrastructure, the Government announced an ‘Investment Boost’, allowing firms to deduct 20% of the cost of new assets - such as machinery or tools - from taxable income on top of normal depreciation. This boost should give firms confidence to invest more into assets, which is especially good news for manufacturing.
Government also announced a significant boost (4.75%) to tertiary education funding for specific STEM programmes, including engineering. Engineering New Zealand welcomes this focus on STEM subjects, alongside the recent announcement of a $100 million investment in maths education.
We know that not enough students are studying or passing STEM subjects, and not enough people are completing engineering qualifications – contributing to New Zealand’s looming long-term engineering skills shortage.
Government investment and support in growing our local engineering workforce through investment in STEM education is incredibly important for ensuring we have enough engineers to meet future infrastructure needs.
