Taxpayer Talk: Roger Partridge on selling public assets to build better infrastructure

The New Zealand Initiative Chair Roger Partridge joins Taxpayer Talk with Peter Williams to discuss a new report arguing New Zealand could unlock more than $24 billion for essential infrastructure by recycling mature Crown-owned commercial assets.

Roger explains how redirecting capital tied up in government-owned companies such as Air New Zealand, Kiwibank and the mixed ownership electricity generators could help fund hospitals, schools, roads and water systems — without raising taxes or increasing public debt. Drawing on the successful New South Wales model, he outlines how a ring-fenced National Infrastructure Fund could convert government commercial holdings into the infrastructure New Zealand urgently needs.