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Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister discusses the infrastructure costs and the City Rail Link, citizenship test
Description
The Prime Minister says we have serious work to do on our infrastructure compared to Singapore.
He's returned from the country this week, where a deal was formally signed to ensure trade keeps flowing during disruptions – securing fuel for New Zealand and food for Singapore.
This comes as the former boss of Auckland's City Rail Link claims the project could have cost 50% less – ballooning to an estimated 5.5 billion dollars.
Christopher Luxon told Mike Hosking he agrees with this.
He says that we spend money on infrastructure but have a very poor return on it, and we need to get much better and more strategic about our planning.
And when it comes to the Government’s plans for a citizenship test, the Prime Minister says he could take it or leave it.
It's planning to test applicants from late next year, requiring they pass 15 out of 20 multi-choice questions – including questions on New Zealand’s laws and political system.
Luxon told Hosking it's pretty similar to what the UK and Australia have been doing for years.
He says it's probably not a bad thing that new Kiwis are aware of pretty basic stuff around things like women's rights and freedom of speech.
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