Update - Thursday 2 July 2020

COVID-19 Local Government Response Unit main page

Caring for Communities update

During the COVID-19 response the Caring for Communities (C4C) workstream was established within the National Crisis Management Centre Operations Command Centre.

C4C was set up to support the transition from CDEM group management of welfare services and to gain a greater understanding and focus on vulnerable communities and to ensure their access to services.

Today you will have received an email from Lil Anderson updating you on the Caring for Communities (C4C) programme over the coming months. This will include ongoing discussions with you as leaders within your regions.

C4C is overseen by a Chief Executive Governance Group chaired by the Chief Executive of the Ministry for Social Development (Debbie Power), with representation from the Department of Internal Affairs, Oranga Tamariki, Te Puni Kōkiri, Kāinga Ora, NZ Police, Pacific Peoples and the National Emergency Management Agency.

In the coming weeks, the C4C team, in conjunction with the Department of Internal Affairs, will be arranging informal discussion with you as leaders within your regions to discuss the C4C programme. 

 

Infrastructure Investments for COVID-19 Recovery

Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones announced today $3 billion of spending on infrastructure to create jobs and stimulate regional economies across New Zealand to assist with the response to COVID-19.

Over 1924 submissions for project funding from 40 sectors of the economy were submitted for consideration to support the economy during the COVID-19 rebuild. These submissions were refined by the Infrastructure Reference Group based on construction readiness, direct employment and national and regional benefits. Cabinet has now approved 150 of these projects in principle. Project approvals will be subject to contract negotiations and investment values are subject to change.

A broad range of infrastructure projects will be funded across four main categories – climate resilience and flood protection ($210 million), transformative energy projects ($155 million), large-scale construction projects ($180 million), and enhanced digital connectivity ($50 million).

The overall investment package will deliver over 150 projects spanning every region of New Zealand. It represents a pipeline of work which can start immediately and run through until the end of 2022. It is expected to deliver over 20,000 jobs.

Further announcements on project details will be made over coming weeks including those projects to be funded. For more information, including the list of 12 projects announced today can be found at the Beehive website.