Making infrastructure investment decisions quickly

13 December 2023: We carried out this audit to understand how consistent the decision-making processes for investments in the NZUP and the SRP were with the Government’s guidelines and the public’s expectations that public money is well managed.

Summary of our report

Read our short summary of why we did this work, what we found, and what needs to happen next.

Auditor-General's overview

"A lack of transparency and documentation about how and why decision-makers made significant decisions can also create the perception that processes lack integrity. In a country that prides itself on the integrity of its public sector, we should all be concerned about this matter."

Video summary

Watch this video to learn about why we carried out our performance audit and what we found.

What's in this report?

We have made three recommendations for the Treasury.

In Part 1, we set out why we did the audit, how we carried out the audit, and our expectations.

In Part 2, we discuss why the NZUP was set up, how projects were selected, and what has been funded.

In Part 3, we discuss why the SRP was set up, how projects were selected, and what has been funded.

In Part 4, we discuss the importance of designing and setting up a clear and well thought-through process for allocating significant amounts of funding to initiatives.

In Part 5, we discuss the importance of good-quality information to inform investment decisions.

In Part 6, we discuss the importance of transparency and accountability to build public confidence in the quality of investment decisions.

In Part 7, we discuss the Treasury's guidance on expedited decision-making, and our observations about that guidance.

The appendices cover: