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The problem with infrastructure is that it\'s boring.\\xa0

It\'s also years away and, given all that has unfolded in this country of late, half of us don\\u2019t believe it will ever happen anyway.\\xa0

Nevertheless, it\'s important. When you get a few reports into the sector, they never get the noise they really deserve.\\xa0

There has been a report into the CRL, the City Rail Link that is a fortune over budget and a mile behind in terms of delivery. That report found we don\\u2019t have, and have never had, enough specialist workers to tackle such a project properly.\\xa0

There was a report into the civil construction industry. They have little, if any, faith in our infrastructure to hold up in future weather events.\\xa0

This all comes at a time when the Government are still considering what they call pumped hydro at Lake Onslow. \\xa0\\xa0

This has been going on for years. It was a Jacinda Ardern thought bubble and part of the Government\'s ongoing obsession with 100 percent renewable energy, even though we have reports telling us 100 percent isn\'t worth it because it\'s too expensive.\\xa0

Can we do 97 percent? Yes. Can we do 100 percent? No.\\xa0

Let us learn from Australia, where we find that their pumped hydro project, the so-called Snowy 2.0, has struck trouble. It was announced by Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 and due to be finished two years ago.\\xa0

Of course, that hasn\\u2019t happened.\\xa0

What has happened is the cost has doubled in the past six months. Malcolm said it would cost $2 billion. By May this year that had blown out to $6billion.\\xa0

As of yesterday it\'s now $12 billion.\\xa0

With Lake Onslow the Government, before spending $30million they didn\\u2019t need to into a report given they already had reports, told us theirs would cost $4 billion, which seemed absurd. But not as absurd as the $16 billion they now reckon it will cost.\\xa0\\xa0

And given the figures I have just given you, you know full well that $16 billion will not be the reality, or anywhere close to it.\\xa0 \\xa0

Our trouble, and clearly Australia\'s as well, is the idea is one thing but the execution is another.\\xa0

If the industry doesn\\u2019t have faith and we don\\u2019t have the workers, we might like to sort that before we go bumbling forward into the next gargantuan hole we don\\u2019t now how to dig, or finish.\\xa0

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