Value capture taxes, congestion charges, and more state housing – you can hold the future government to account on those promises, no matter which Chris is leading it.

During the Great Infrastructure Debate on Tuesday, a surprising amount of common ground was found. This included commitments from the Labour, National and Green parties to find new revenue tools – most likely value capture and congestion charging – to fund better infrastructure.

In the case of congestion charging, it would see car users paying to drive on more roads – which would mean less reliance (or a flat out removal) of the fuel tax.

Fuel taxes and road user charges are the main methods governments and councils fund transport.

National Party infrastructure spokesperson Chris Bishop said fuel taxes were an unfair way to charge road users – especially as more people, especially wealthier households, avoided it through electric vehicles.

“Meanwhile, your average low income worker in south Auckland, who’s driving a 1996 Toyota Corolla along the southern motorway is having to pay through the nose through that fuel tax. It is completely regressive and inequitable,” Bishop said.

Labour Party transport spokesperson David Parker agreed. Greens’ co-leader James Shaw went as far as to call himself “a big fan”.

But he wanted to build “some trains and some tracks” to help people move to public transport, before the charges kicked in.

Parker said value capture taxes had been hard to implement, but said the next government should work out how to do it.

Value capture taxes specifically charge beneficiaries of state-funded infrastructure, for the benefit and capital gains they derive from new and improved infrastructure.

Bishop asked why inner city businesses and landowners, who would benefit from Auckland’s mammoth City Rail Link construction, weren’t being asked to contribute to that cost.

“We want to use more value capture, more tolls,” he said.

Housing

Shaw promised to build 35,000 state houses, while Labour and National also committed to increasing the public housing stock.

The size of that promise drew memories of Labour’s KiwiBuild promise, but Shaw said the two shouldn’t be compared.

“I didn’t think it would work the day it got published. I talked to some of the economists about it at the time and, you know, they said no it wasn’t going to work,” Shaw said.

He said the public housing build would be contracted work, rather than an opt-in scheme for developers (which is how KiwiBuild operated).

Bishop said National would work with charities to deliver more public houses.

Parker said working with the non-government sector had worked under the Labour Government, helping it to add about 12,000 public houses to the market.

Greens double down on light rail, NZ First promises Northland-Auckland road

Great Infrastructure debate moderator, Stuff chief political correspondent Tova O’Brien​, asked the infrastructure spokespeople to name one project they would stake their jobs on.

Shaw said he wanted to see on-the-ground light rail (rather than underground) light rail in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for cheaper than the proposed underground Auckland Light Rail project.

Jones said a new road over the Brynderwyn Hills connecting Northland to the rest of the country would be built if NZ First was in Government.

“The Brynderwyns is a barrier, to economic livelihoods between the Ngāpuhi in Tai Tokerau and Auckland… I want a new road within three years,” he said.

“If I don’t deliver, I fear I will be buried.”

ACT Party infrastructure spokesperson Simon Court refused to make such a promise.

Bishop said, as a Hutt Valley local, he had to see the Melling Interchange and Riverlink projects completed.

Parker said Auckland’s Northwestern Busway was a no-brainer, that needed to be completed ASAP and should have been built years ago.