Why a Ministry of Green Works could be a game-changer
100% housing: Ten things we should know about the housing crisis
Writer and campaigner Max Harris shares ideas with us on how the construction industry could be upgraded to provide good jobs, better infrastructure, and green outcomes.
What is the state of buildings and houses in Aotearoa do you reckon?
We’ve all heard about New Zealand’s infrastructure problems in recent years. There was rot, mould, asbestos, and raw sewage leaking into the walls at Middlemore hospital. School buildings, where kids are meant to be learning in a safe environment, are in a “tired state” and leaking.
Economist Brad Olsen referred to “looming collapse of critical infrastructure networks”. Going back further many people will remember the leaky building crisis, which is still affecting families and communities across the country.
Then the media and the general public have focused in the last couple of years on the lack of long-term, affordable, secure housing. Sometimes this gets framed as a ‘supply problem’, and in one sense it is — but talking about it this way locks us into a ‘demand and supply’ framework that doesn’t necessarily have all of the answers.
Really we’re talking about a particular kind of supply that’s lacking: supply, at scale, of secure housing, in particular for the growing number of people unable to afford skyrocketing rents or house prices. That means people feel locked out of secure housing, and when people do get into a house (to rent or to own) often the quality of these houses is very poor.
That sounds pretty bad for us even when we are in stable housing?
It isn’t good across the board. The first step is having a proper understanding of how we got here. A big part of that is the privatisation of large parts of construction in the 1980s, and the deregulation of building (including in the early 1990s) — in other words the loosening of rules on how things are built. This has led to corners being cut, standards being driven down, and the idea of housing as a commodity becoming embedded.
And successive governments have shrunk from taking bold steps to move in a different direction — away from housing as a commodity, and towards building housing and public infrastructure at scale.
Are there things that can be done about this — any “bold steps” that can be taken now?
There’s one idea I like that could be part of an ambitious new approach: a Ministry of Green Works.
New Zealand had a Ministry of Works from 1876 until 1988. It was a ministry that built and owned public infrastructure, like harbours, roads, and railways. In 1988 it was privatised.
Since the privatisation of the Ministry of Works it’s become the norm for infrastructure to be delivered through private companies, or public-private partnerships. That means less secure work, and less coordination and vision. The period since 1988 has also coincided with the leaky homes crisis and the rise of other infrastructure challenges.
So if we brought it back, as a new Ministry of Green Works, what would it look like?
It could build state houses at scale. At the moment, Kāinga Ora is contracting-out the construction of houses, rather than building them directly. And KiwiBuild didn’t actually involve the government building houses, despite its name — it involved the Government purchasing houses from private developers.
A Ministry of Green Works could ensure that state houses also meet the highest standards of accessibility and energy efficiency and sustainability. It could support the transition to a low emissions construction industry.
The Ministry of Green Works could create a public pipeline, taking people from education into work into infrastructure delivery, in order to meet our country’s needs. It could be part of a just transition as workers move away from other polluting industries.
It could also be in a position to integrate aspects of the privatised construction sector into its operations (such as Fletchers Construction), especially where that sector faces threats to jobs and livelihoods.
Going into a little more level of detail, a Ministry of Green Works could have a focus on building materials, design and architecture, and construction (including assembly and installation). It would be a place for engineers to be employed to work for the public good, where public-spirited architects could work delivering housing and infrastructure we could all be proud of (recalling how London in the past has partnered with architects to deliver high quality council housing), and where well-paid unionised jobs could be provided to builders, painter-decorators, and other tradespeople.
All this could be done in a way that is consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi, with iwi and hapū empowered and resourced to develop and deliver their own infrastructure. It is especially important that Māori are centrally involved in the design and delivery of the Ministry, for Te Tiriti reasons and because the last Ministry of Works was, at times in its history, a colonial vehicle that was responsible for the loss of large swathes of Māori land.
What are some of the challenges to doing this? Is there enough capacity and funding?
One challenge in doing this is capacity, but this has been a challenge for the Ministry of Works in the past, and there are solutions. The Government has funded free trades training, and with a public department focused on works, training could be coordinated with construction and delivery. Having a clear pipeline of infrastructure and state housing construction will help to meet ambitious targets.
Another challenge is ensuring a Ministry of Green Works isn’t top-down; this could be done by ensuring local government, workers, and communities participate directly in the design and delivery of the Ministry, drawing on examples of participatory public ownership such as Paris’s approach to municipal water ownership.
The Government also has the funds to deliver on this. Billions have been set aside for covid recovery, and this is a key part of a recovery. As well, borrowing is cheap right now and New Zealand’s government debt is very low compared to our peers. Good infrastructure of this kind would save money elsewhere in our social services, by creating secure shelter, employment, and energy efficiency.
All this should be up for more discussion and debate, including what falls in the Ministry of Green Works’ remit beyond state housing. For example, there could be more work done to see whether a Ministry of Green Works should be involved in repurposing new buildings as well as new construction.
If infrastructure is about laying the foundations for our society, my suggestion is that we should see social infrastructure as being part of the Ministry’s mandate. That means that the Ministry of Green Works would also focus on rebuilding hospitals, education, and transport infrastructure. That also means the Ministry of Green Works could play a supporting role in building up New Zealand’s care infrastructure, from the cradle to the grave.
Are there any other risks to this that you would raise?
There’s a danger that ‘shovel-ready’ projects disproportionately benefit male workers. That would be a grave mistake, especially since 10,000 out of the 11,000 New Zealanders who have lost their jobs during the pandemic are women. The Ministry of Green Works should use gender-responsive budgeting, as well as carbon budgeting, to ensure all projects are screened to make sure they do not favour men and support decarbonisation.
An Opportunity for a Bold Government
The Labour-led Government in its first term set up a Provincial Growth Fund, which created a platform for regional economic development. That now needs to transition into a more ambitious form, where we look at nationwide projects that could transform our futures.
Once in place a Ministry of Green Works can work with KiwiRail — not properly harnessed by governments in the last thirteen years since it was brought back into public ownership — to create a state-of-the-art rail network across New Zealand.
A Ministry of Green Works can support new public bus infrastructure as part of locally owned bus services, or create publicly owned electric vehicle (EV) charging points, or build up cycling routes?
This just a sample of the kinds of projects that a Ministry of Green Works can prioritise. It’s an idea that will secure good jobs, green outcomes, and better infrastructure.
Last year, the Government floated the idea of a Ministry of Works, and some version of having a building ministry has been backed by a range of voices from different sectors and across the political spectrum, including journalist Fran O’Sullivan, building expert Roger Levie, and political advisor Jack McDonald. So this is not some idea from left-field — support for it, and momentum behind it, is building.
It’s an idea that could leave a real legacy for a government bold enough to commit to it — and an idea that is a crucial kickstart for the government to build state housing at scale.
Would you like to see more content like this? Chip in to support bold changes for how we do housing in Aotearoa.
