The Canterbury earthquakes have forced the Government to look more closely at the strength of New Zealand's infrastructure.
The Government released its second national infrastructure plan on Monday, saying it will spend more than $17 billion during the next four years. In addition, $5.5 billion will be spent rebuilding Canterbury.
The Government has signalled it could impose tougher national standards on infrastructure to ensure it can survive similar disasters.
It plans to improve the resilience of transport, water, sewerage, energy and communication networks. This requires looking at design and construction standards to ensure infrastructure is able to survive natural disasters and the long-term effects of climate change.
A key priority identified is improving the management of government-owned social infrastructure assets such as prisons, hospitals and schools.
Infrastructure Minister Bill English told Checkpoint on Monday the Government is looking at a public private partnership with two new schools and lessons may be learnt from this experience.
The current management of schools is reasonable but can probably be improved upon - particularly in a time when capital is going to be tight, he says.
