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In the transport sector, five major state highway projects will get an immediate $42.5m boost, with $142.5m worth of funding to be fast-tracked overall, including maintenance and renewal work.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the five main projects were chosen because of their readiness to start and potential to provide an immediate boost to regional economies.
Major projects:
Kopu Bridge replacement, SH25 Waikato, $21.7m fast-tracked (total $47m), due to start June.
Motahorua Gorge realignment, SH2 Hawke's Bay, $5.4m fast-tracked (total $40m), due to start October.
Hawke's Bay Expressway southern extension SH50 (total $50m), due to start October.
Rimutaka corner easing, SH2 Wellington, $11.7m fast-tracked (total $20m), due to start October.
Christchurch southern motorway, SH1, $3.7m fast-tracked (total $180m), due to start March 2010.
About $100m will be used for maintenance and renewal work, with $34m to be spent on projects starting before June 30 and the remaining $66m over the following two years.
"The new cash injection will provide immediate economic stimulus in the regions and will ensure we are in better shape to grow more quickly as world demand picks up again," Mr Joyce said.
He said the majority of subcontractors and suppliers would be regionally based.
Education
New schools will be built and old ones refurbished as part of the infrastructure investment announced by the Government on Wednesday.
The $216.7 million allocated to schools will accelerate construction and renovation and the role out of broadband, Education Minister Anne Tolley says.
The projects include:
$68.7m to build five new schools, Mt Wellington Primary, Papamoa
Primary, Papamoa Secondary, Hingaia Primary and Kerikeri
Primary.
$30m for 64 schools to build new administration buildings, halls
and libraries.
$9m for expanded facilities at special schools and satellite
units.
$34m to upgrade ICT infrastructure at schools to make them
broadband-ready.
$30m to improve four Upper Hutt schools -- Upper Hutt College,
Heretaunga College, Fergusson Intermediate and Maidstone
Intermediate.
$11m to replace outdated and rundown buildings in seven schools --
Pt Chevalier School, Manurewa East School, Cambridge High School,
Karanui School, Somerfield School, Christchurch South School and
Lyttelton Main School.
$6m to establish a trades academy on Mangere's Southern Cross
Campus.
$28m to help schools accelerate existing building projects that are
stalled.
"This work will create jobs and it is excellent news for communities which are in need of either new schools or better facilities," Tolley says.
The work was spread throughout the country, she says.
Housing
State homes were the focus in the housing section of the Government's infrastructure package on Wednesday.
Housing Minister Phil Heatley says $124.5 million would be spent on state housing.
This included $104.5m to upgrade 10,000 existing state homes over the next 18 months and $20m to build 69 new state homes within six months.
The new four-to-five bedroom state homes will be in:
West and North Auckland (seven houses at a cost of $2.1m);
Central Auckland (three houses, $1.1m);
South Auckland (14 houses, $4.9m);
Waikato/ Coromandel/ King Country (six houses, $1.1m);
Bay of Plenty (six houses, $1.6m);
East Cape/ Hawke's Bay (11 houses, $3.3m);
Wellington/ Hutt Valley (five houses, $1.5m);
Canterbury/ Nelson/ Marlborough (10 houses, $2.9m);
Southern (seven houses, $1.6m).
The renovation money will be used to upgrade houses ($95m) and ensure they are healthy ($9.5m).
The upgrade will include insulation, ventilation, heating, redecoration, kitchen and bathroom upgrades, strengthening and roofing.
"This work will be spread across the country and will deliver economic stimulus in almost every region," Mr Heatley says.
"It will also help Housing New Zealand deal with waiting lists that have built up for state homes, while at the same time increasing the well being of some of New Zealand's most vulnerable families."
