Latest news with #Aurecon
Sky News AU
07-08-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
One in three state school buildings across Queensland labelled ‘unfit for purpose' as shocking report uncovers years of neglect
Thousands of Queensland students are attending classes in rotting buildings riddled with mould, termite damage and structural decay, as a new report lays bare the consequences of years of chronic underfunding. The Comprehensive Review of Infrastructure Renewal, commissioned in 2022 by the Labor government and conducted by independent firms AssetFuture and Aurecon, found that 33.7 per cent of state school facilities were either badly deteriorated or deemed unfit for use, with the figure jumping above 50 per cent in Brisbane's metro north and south regions. The report warned that if the current maintenance backlog isn't addressed swiftly, taxpayers could be facing a $6.9 billion repair bill by 2035. A four-year investment strategy was recommended, but assessors said even with that, the work could not be completed within a single year. 'This independent report shows Labor starved our education system of the funding it needs to maintain schools,' Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek told the Courier Mail. Inspectors visited 1,266 schools across Queensland from 2022 to the end of 2023 and their findings included leaking and collapsing roofs, damaged stairs and retaining walls, widespread mould, and evidence of pest infestation. Despite ongoing updates being shared with the Department of Education through to 2024, there was no public disclosure of the investigations until the final report was handed down to the government in February this year. Instead of addressing decaying infrastructure, funds were redirected into new buildings like sports halls, playgrounds and performance venues, leaving vital maintenance work to fall by the wayside. In North Queensland, 40 per cent of state school assets were reported in poor or very poor conditions. However, the true scale of the problem may be worse, with the report noting that key infrastructure such as lifts, air conditioning systems, stormwater drains, and electrical components were not included in the assessment. The cost of clearing the maintenance backlog currently stands at $441 million, but without immediate intervention, that figure could rise to over $900 million by 2028-29, with further degradation likely to affect student learning and teacher wellbeing. If allowed to worsen, the deteriorating conditions may force families to pull their children from public schools entirely, the report warned, citing serious health and safety risks and the looming threat of infrastructure failure. The state government has now committed to funding the extensive repair works over several years, in a bid to stabilise the crisis and restore safety and function to Queensland's state schools.
NZ Herald
06-08-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Infrastructure: NZ needs a broader strategy for skills development
While New Zealand has its own unique path to chart, there's value in learning from others. In this piece, we explore how Hong Kong is speeding up and refining construction delivery, and how Ireland's 20-year vision is helping pave the way for success. Closing the productivity gap – Hong Kong New Zealand's construction sector is strong, but inefficiencies are costing us. Despite being among the top 10% of OECD countries for infrastructure investment, we're in the bottom 10% for value delivered. According to Infracom1, labour productivity in heavy and civil engineering construction grew just 5% between 2000 and 2020 - far behind the 23% growth in building construction and 30% economy-wide. If civil construction had kept pace, it's estimated that costs could be 10% lower, workforce demand 11% lower, and output 5% higher. Alex Katsanos is Managing Principal Advisory — Asia, Aurecon. Photo / Supplied As an industry, we must look inward and acknowledge that we can be slow to change. Tools to lift productivity already exist – AI and automation, prefabrication, smarter project management methods. Great work is happening within individual companies, but to make real inroads, we need industry-level transformation. An example New Zealand could look to is Hong Kong, with its focus on workforce development, data and digital innovation, and programme management. Workforce Hong Kong's workforce planning aligns its talent pipeline with future infrastructure projects and the changing skillsets required for modern construction. Vocational training is shifting its focus towards technologies such as Building Information Management (BIM), prefabrication, and automation. A centralised data system has been established to track key workforce data – how many people work in each trade, where they are located, how many are entering the workforce through training and visas and how many are expected to retire. This data is mapped against future project needs to reveal skills gaps and inform workforce planning. Data is taken to the most granular level - such as time taken to complete individual tasks - helping to build a bank of insights that can support standardisation and lift productivity over time. New Zealand's construction industry is a little different – made up largely of small contractors, with a handful of large companies - meaning building this kind of national picture of talent may be a little more complex. However, we can still increase visibility of the pipeline of engineers, builders and tradespeople coming through as compared to the pipeline of projects ahead. This will help quantify the scale of our skills gap, supporting a targeted strategy around building capability and sourcing overseas talent. A broader strategy for skills development - focused on the needs of a modern construction sector - will be key to enabling the wider adoption of new technologies and delivery methods. Programme management Hong Kong is moving away from fragmented project-by-project management toward an integrated approach, letting groups of projects to Programme Management Offices (PMO) run by international firms. An example is the HK$224 billion Northern Metropolis housing and business hub, which is being delivered as tens of interconnected projects by a PMO. Although in its emerging stages, the model is expected to significantly reduce delivery timelines while improving quality outcomes and budget performance. Hong Kong, China - May 26, 2022 : Landmark M+ Museum in West Kowloon cultural district in Hong Kong city While New Zealand may not be embarking on a project the scale of Northern Metropolis anytime soon (900,000 new homes will be built as part of the project), we can still benefit from a programme management-type approach in some contexts. With the NIP recommending that 60% of infrastructure investment be directed toward asset maintenance, we're likely to see an increase in smaller-scale projects in the future. Delivered collectively, these could unlock efficiencies and economies of scale. Water infrastructure stands out as a clear opportunity - and the Local Water Done Well framework provides a foundation for a PMO approach to maintaining water assets. Data and digital Building a more complete picture of the condition of our assets is a key opportunity for wider adoption of data and digital technology. New Zealand has a huge number of assets that, if digitised, could provide an excellent resource for asset owners to make better decisions and help prioritise their maintenance activities. Building this bank of data could have a flow-on effect on the industry, helping drive greater use of digital technology at every stage of project delivery. In Hong Kong, the Government is implementing policies to drive wide adoption of BIM, robotics and drones, digitally enabled prefabrication, AI and virtual reality, collaboration platforms and other technologies. The approach aims to cut construction costs and boost productivity by 10% or more. Data generated in projects will be captured on a single platform, creating a resource to assist decision-making on future projects and prioritisation of investments. While New Zealand is already adopting many of these tools, we are only at the stage of developing a common data standard – which is key to realising the full benefits of this technology. Clear policy from the Government, together with industry input, is essential. Aligning investment to national vision - Ireland The NIP calls for a stronger focus on long-term investment planning, to enable a more sustainable and affordable approach to project selection and delivery. Rightfully so, but could we take it a step further, to align a national vision to investment planning? Aerial view of Dublin's channel, near the port. Defining a vision for where and how we want to grow (and the kind of future we want to create), could help simplify decision-making around which projects to prioritise, and separate infrastructure from political cycles. Linking investment to vision also enables us to more clearly measure outcomes. A country doing this well is Tracey's native Ireland with Project Ireland 2040, the Irish Government's long-term strategy to build a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable future. The strategy aligns infrastructure investment with National Strategic Objectives for 2040 and is delivered through two key levers: the National Planning Framework, which sets out the spatial strategy for the next 20 years, and the National Development Plan 2021–2030, which commits €165 billion over a decade to realise the country's economic, social, environmental, and cultural aspirations. Executing fast but thinking deeply The National Infrastructure Plan is a genuine step forward and lays out clear priorities for responding to New Zealand's infrastructure challenges. However, we must now turn plans into outcomes. To make progress, we must think both fast and slow: accelerating the way we deliver projects while slowing down and thinking deeply about the kind of future we wish to create and the infrastructure investments that will take us there. As we embark on this journey, we can take insight from other jurisdictions - Hong Kong is lifting productivity through integrated workforce planning, programme management and digital innovation, while Ireland looks to the future, aligning infrastructure investment with a national vision. The best outcomes derive from a mix of both. Aurecon is an advertising sponsor of the Herald's Infrastructure report.
NZ Herald
13-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Watercare spends $11m on consultants for delayed Huia treatment plant project
Since 2018, Watercare has spent $22.6m on the Huia plant replacement projects, according to figures released to the Herald under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. Of the total figure, $8.5m related to property purchases, which Watercare said are likely to be sold once the project is finished, and $7.7m was spent on obtaining resource consent, which encountered environmental issues and appeals. Engineering consultants Aurecon were the highest paid of the 57 vendors at $2.4m, followed by law firm Simpson Grierson ($1.7m), engineering consultants Tonkin & Taylor ($1.4m), and landscape architect Boffa Miskell ($1.3m). Most vendors were paid tens of thousands of dollars or less. The cheapest vendor was Print Consultants ($220). In a statement, Watercare said that since the project was granted resource consent in late 2023, there was more certainty about what was required, and other projects had been grouped with the plant for a total cost of $1.1b. Figures showed the 2018 cost of $420m had changed in scope and cost to about $980m in 2025, and the remainder of the $1.1b was new projects. A confidential business update to the board in April this year said some of the water projects were 'extremely complex' and 'associated works are significantly behind historic schedule'. The statement reiterated the earlier view of Watercare chief executive Dave Chambers that the $1.1b cost of the project was realistic and represented good value for Aucklanders. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is also relaxed about the project cost, telling the Herald in March that improvements had been planned for several years and the overall project would build water supply resilience across the north and west network. 'I expect Watercare has carefully considered its projects and will work to ensure the investment provides good value for what they're spending. We have seen in Wellington what happens when there is under-investment in water infrastructure. We don't want to see that happen in Auckland,' he said. The billion-dollar project has also come to the attention of the Commerce Commission, which has been appointed by the Government to monitor Watercare's finances and other performance measures under a charter until 2028. Commission chairman Dr John Small said Aucklanders could expect greater transparency and accountability from Watercare, including quarterly reports on capital projects. 'We expect this to include the programme of work for the Huia water treatment plant.'
