How professionalised is New Zealand's central government when it comes to managing its infrastructure assets?
Central government is significantly under-represented in New Zealand's professionalised asset management community. Only around 7% of Apopo's 1,300 members come from central government asset owners, compared to 55% from local government. The National Infrastructure Plan released in 2025 made the gap even more visible: 12 out of 31 central government agencies do not have a basic asset register — meaning they do not know what assets they own. In the health sector, annual maintenance spending sits well below 2% of asset value, against an international benchmark closer to 5%.
The contrast with local government is stark. With 55% of Apopo's membership drawn from local councils and related bodies, the skills, frameworks, and professional culture of asset management have taken stronger root at the local level. Central government agencies, by comparison, have been largely absent from that professional community. The 2025 National Infrastructure Plan put hard numbers to that absence: 12 of 31 agencies cannot even produce a list of what they own, which is the most elementary starting point for any asset management programme.
The maintenance spending figures in the health sector illustrate what that gap costs over time. When spending stays well below 2% of asset value annually — while international peers invest closer to 5% — deferred maintenance accumulates into a structural deficit that becomes increasingly expensive to reverse. The Infrastructure Commission Te Wahananga has noted that for every dollar spent on infrastructure, 60 cents should go to maintenance and renewals, leaving just 40 cents for new construction. That discipline is difficult to maintain without the professional structures and accountability mechanisms that asset management professionalisation is designed to create. You can explore the full episode discussion on The Otago Opportunity on Listenly.
"Unless we invest now, and maybe forego something else, then our children and our grandchildren are going to shoulder a very highly disproportional impact from failing infrastructure."
— Murray Pugh, CEO, ApopoAbout Murray Pugh
Murray Pugh leads Apopo, the peak professional association for infrastructure asset management in Aotearoa New Zealand, representing 1,300 members across local government, central government, and the private sector. His role centres on advancing the professionalisation and accreditation of asset management practitioners nationwide — a domain where New Zealand's international standing remains weak. Under his leadership, Apopo created the Asset Management Chartered Professional designation, a credential that the World Partners in Asset Management has formally recognised as equivalent to its global certification scheme, placing New Zealand practitioners on an internationally comparable footing. Pugh brings a sector-wide perspective on the structural gaps between local and central government asset management maturity, and his membership data — showing central government at just 7% of Apopo's membership despite owning a substantial share of national infrastructure — is among the clearest available evidence of where professionalisation has stalled.