The South Island is missing out on around $1.8 billion in transport funding, enough to build both the Woodend Bypass in Canterbury and the Hope Bypass in Nelson, Environment Canterbury chair Deon Swiggs said.

Environment Canterbury is the region’s regional council. Swiggs was speaking to chrislynchmedia.com after the release of The South Island’s Contribution to the New Zealand Economy, a report written by economist Benje Patterson and commissioned by the South Island Regional Transport Committee Chairs Group, which represents the chairs and deputy chairs of every South Island regional transport committee, along with NZTA and KiwiRail.

The report found the South Island generated 22 per cent of New Zealand’s GDP, a third of its goods exports and 40 per cent of international visitor spending, and carried 27 per cent of the country’s vehicle kilometres travelled.

It received 11 per cent of National Land Transport Fund expenditure in the year to June 2025, and 12 per cent across the past three years.

Canterbury’s share was starker again. The region has 13.1 per cent of the national population, 13.9 per cent of all vehicle travel and 15.3 per cent of the country’s goods exports, and received 5.5 per cent of the fund.

“Those export goods are travelling across roads, using the infrastructure that is being paid for by that activity. But we’re not getting the money coming back into the South Island to do the maintenance and to keep those assets that we are relying on up to scratch,” Swiggs said.

Without that investment the network would degrade, he said.

“We all know that once things get broken or they degrade to such an extent, then it just costs a whole lot more money to fix it in the long run. So let’s invest up front, get that money that we’re deserving in the South Island, and let’s make sure that we keep that economic activity happening.”

The government has both the Woodend and Hope bypasses in its pipeline but has not funded them.

“Well, actually, if the South Island was getting the money that it was generating, we would have the money to do those two projects, and probably a whole lot of bridges that we need to be replacing as well,” Swiggs said.

Asked whether he wanted funding taken off other regions or the fund increased overall, Swiggs said the money needed to be rebalanced towards where it was generated.

“Not necessarily taking it from other regions, but that’s effectively what will happen. There are some regions across the country where there is a huge amount of investment going on, and that may need to happen. But what we’re saying is, from here, we now know these numbers. We have quantified them, and we actually need to be thinking about the South Island.”

Resilience across Canterbury and the wider South Island was already at risk, he said. Hurunui District Council has 230 bridges approaching the end of their working life that will need replacing over the next 30 years.

Canterbury generates $55.6 billion in GDP, more than $11.7 billion in goods exports and more than $2.4 billion in international visitor spending each year, and is home to nearly 700,000 people. South Canterbury alone produces an estimated $3.8 billion in food and fibre exports, 6.2 per cent of the national total, from 1.2 per cent of the country’s population.

Growth is strongest in Selwyn and Waimakariri, while rural and provincial communities remain central to food, fibre and energy production.

Swiggs is calling on every political party to commit to rebalancing land transport funding across regions and activities, to prioritise maintenance and resilience, and to invest according to evidence and freight demand.

“Maintaining and improving the infrastructure we already have is one of the smartest investments we can make. Stronger resilience, better maintenance and well targeted upgrades help protect communities, keep freight moving and reduce the costs of disruption when severe weather events occur,” he said.

The report has been sent to the transport spokespeople of all political parties. Swiggs gave the interview from a bus in Wellington on his way to Parliament to put the report in front of MPs, before meeting the South Island transport chairs. Regional councils from around the country were due to discuss it later in the day.

“When Canterbury succeeds, New Zealand benefits,” Swiggs said.