About $675 million of funding is approved to progress consenting, design and some early works related to the Government’s Roads of National Significance.

The funding has been approved by the NZ Transport Agency board, which had endorsed investment cases for all 15 roads, with the most recent endorsements including Sections 2 and 3 of the Northland Expressway, the East West Link, Hamilton Southern Links, Petone to Grenada and Cross Valley Link, SH1 Wellington Improvements including a new Mt Victoria tunnel, and the Hope Bypass.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Transport Minister Chris Bishop this afternoon. A livestream of their announcement can be found at the top of the article.

Bishop added a further $515m was expected to be used from approved property funding linked to the 15 roads to “enable local property acquisition”.

It follows Labour unveiling its first economic policy before the 2026 election; a wealth fund intended to take the dividends of some Crown assets and redistribute them into New Zealand businesses in the hopes of creating new jobs.

The proposal came with few costings, details - of what assets will be included in the fund - or projections about how many jobs may be created as a result. But Labour was confident it would lead to Kiwi business staying here, leading to local wealth creation.

The amount of ring-fenced money that would be invested into New Zealand businesses would depend on the entities chosen and their dividends for a certain year. Labour wouldn’t say what assets could be included in the fund, citing commercial sensitivity.

Labour called the policy the New Zealand Future Fund, the same as an idea put forward by NZ First last year which would see up to $100 billion invested into infrastructure, though there was little detail available about how it would work.

NZ First leader Winston Peters took aim at Hipkins over this, saying Labour’s policy was a “try-hard Temu mail-order rip-off”.

Luxon deemed Labour’s new Future Fund policy “totally underwhelming” and a “load of rubbish”.

Speaking at his post-Cabinet press conference, Luxon claimed Labour’s policy document was primarily “pictures, buzz words and jargon” and was critical of a lack of detail.

“If we had done that, we would have been crucified.”

Under Labour’s plan, the dividends of a selected group of assets, such as state-owned enterprises, would be pooled and then reinvested into New Zealand businesses. An initial $200m capital contribution from the Crown would help get the ball rolling.

The political party believes designing the fund like this will allow for a “steady revenue stream through dividends, an asset base to leverage, and the ability to invest for long-term national benefit”.

“Returns will be both financial and social,” a policy document says. “Some investments may not deliver the fast profits of global markets, but they will create lasting national value – stronger communities, lower costs, more resilient industries, and opportunities to keep talent and ideas in New Zealand.”

Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.