Analysis: As a justice of the peace, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell is sometimes required at Rotorua’s courthouse. “It’s absolutely terrible,” she says. “It’s unsafe and, in a way, inhumane. There was not only black mould but also air conditioning issues over a very hot summer, and I’ve received complaints from many in the community, including those who work within the courthouse, about the unsuitable conditions. So we’ve been waiting for long enough.”
This morning, Courts Minister Nicole McKee has made a pre-Budget announcement of $100 million for new court facilities. The investment will contribute to the construction of two new courthouses: one for the Rotorua Law Courts and one for the Rotorua Māori Land Court.
The announcement raises some curious questions about progress on the Government’s much-vaunted public-private partnerships, but first, credit where credit’s due. The courts’ redevelopment is long-awaited for the Rotorua community – in fact, funding had twice been expected in two previous Budgets, then twice failed to materialise.
The repeated delays drove Tapsell, alongside other local government and business leaders, to write to the minister just before Christmas. “Our shared view is unequivocal – the current courthouse is no longer fit for purpose, and the consequences are now materially affecting justice outcomes, community confidence and the mana of our city centre,” they wrote.
The latest Court User Survey, reported in November, showed Rotorua courthouse to be the lowest-rated court facility in the country; media have reported unacceptable conditions faced daily by court participants, court staff, victims, legal practitioners and members of the public. “While these issues have been longstanding, the situation has now deteriorated to the point where it is undermining both access to justice and trust in the system.”
Now, the funding is confirmed. Better late than never, the mayor says.
Tapsell says it’s great news for neighbours and other residents, sick of the existing eyesore at the centre of the town’s tourist district, and also for those who work in and around the courts. “They’re really delighted that even amongst uncertain and financially challenging times we will still see this important project go ahead.”
Curiously, though, the project is not proceeding as a public-private partnership, despite having been marketed as such to international investors at the Prime Minister’s Infrastructure Investment Summit last year.
Through Budget 2026, sufficient funding has been provided to allow the Ministry of Justice to progress to delivery of the Rotorua High and District Court and Māori Land Court builds, supplementing new Budget funding with baseline funding. The ministry is developing its Approval to Delivery business case and intends to progress to procurement imminently.
What this also means is that there’s no funding announced for the other urgent court rebuild, Waitākere in west Auckland. That was meant to be bundled up with Rotorua as one, big attractive package for PPP investors.
In response to questions from Newsroom, McKee says: “The Government has limited funds and not everything we want to do can be done immediately.”
Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop echoes that. The decision to fund the Rotorua courthouses but not the Waitākere courthouse at Budget 2026 was made based on affordability and system-wide prioritisation in the context of the capital allowance, he says. “While still requiring replacement, the Waitākere District Court building is in better condition than the Rotorua High and District Court building and therefore was a lesser priority for immediate funding.”
He confirms that a standard procurement approach, rather than PPP procurement, will be used for the Rotorua courts. “This is because progressing the Rotorua courthouses separately from the Waitākere courthouse reduces the scale of the project and therefore its viability as a PPP,” he acknowledges.
This does raise the question of whether the Government’s bold aspirations to get major projects underway as PPPs have met a stumbling block. There’s also been no progress announced on the Linton Military Camp barracks, which were expected to be the first PPP for this Government. A spokesperson for the minister says the barracks are still expected to be built and run as a PPP. But there’s no guarantee that will progress this year.
In better news, phase one of the Christchurch Men’s Prison Redevelopment was funded in last year’s Budget. That phase is expected to provide 240 prison beds – the first step towards a total 1020 new prison beds over four phases. Phase one has an indicative capital cost of $700m-$800m.
And Bishop, wearing another hat as Minister of Transport, has promised an announcement, very soon, of private partners to build the high-priced Warkworth to Te Hana stretch of the Northern Expressway.
“The Northern Expressway is basically good to go, it’s in procurement now,” he told us last month.
“We always said mid-year. I mean, this is a $3.5 billion road, or whatever the amount is. It’s a very expensive road, and there’s been a range of bidders on the road, so I don’t think there’s been a delay. And if there had been, I think the taxpayer would rather us take another month or two to try and get the decision right. It’s a pretty big decision.”
Perhaps this goes to the issues with the other proposed PPPs, that Christopher Luxon and his ministers had announced with such fanfare at his summit last year. The advantage of PPPs is not cost – if anything they can cost taxpayers more over the duration of the partnership.
But it’s essentially a form of financing, that – ideally – allows work to begin sooner, without relinquishing ownership to the private sector. In the end, the asset is owned by the Crown and remains owned by the Crown.
Yet some in the sector suggest the wind back of the Government’s PPP aspirations could be time-related. “It takes time to run a full competitive PPP process,” says one insider. “We would argue that you get a better value-for-money / whole-of-life outcome but it still takes time to run a proper process.
“It’s quicker to just get a [design and construct] contract to deliver a cheap courthouse – and worry about the cost to maintain the asset or facilities another time.”
This week, Bishop says: “We will continue to procure infrastructure projects using a variety of methods, as best fits the specific context and intended outcomes of each project.”
For the community of Rotorua and those who work in its mouldering courthouse or (for whatever reason) find themselves enjoying its insalubrious environs, the mechanism by which the new courthouses are financed and built won’t much matter.
“You know, we pay tax, and we expect at least the basics of the core services that run our country,” says Mayor Tapsell. “And this is a really important one, and our justice system shouldn’t be taken lightly, and our facility should reflect that importance.”
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