New Zealand Ministry of Works

The New Zealand Ministry of Works and Development, formerly the Department of Public Works and often referred to as the Public Works Department or PWD, was founded in 1876 and disestablished and privatised in 1988. The Ministry had its own Cabinet-level responsible minister, the Minister of Works or Minister of Public Works.

The Head Office of the Ministry was in the Vogel Building in Wellington, named after former Premier Sir Julius Vogel, who helped create the Public Works Department during his term in office, through the Immigration and Public Works Act 1870. This building held the Vogel Computer, one of the largest in New Zealand and used by several government departments for engineering work. The Ministry moved to the Vogel Building in about 1965 from the Old Government Building on Lambton Quay.

The ministry was renamed the Ministry of Works on 16 March 1943 under the Ministry of Works Act. This was to reflect the extended wartime functions, when the Minister explained it was, "to ensure that, whilst the building and constructional potential of the country is limited by war and immediate post-war conditions, it is assembled and utilized in the most efficient manner from the point of view of the national interest".

During the latter years of the Ministry there were seven District Offices (Auckland, Hamilton, Wanganui, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) each headed by a District Commissioner of Works. In each District there were a number of Residency Offices (headed by a Resident Engineer) and each had a number of Depots. In addition there were Project Offices set up for a particular purpose, such as to build a power project, airport, tunnel or irrigation scheme.

While the policy functions were either disestablished or passed on to other Government departments, the commercial operations were set up as Works and Development Services Corporation (a state-owned enterprise) and the computing bureau and the buildings maintenance units were sold. The corporation had two main subsidiaries, Works Consultancy Services and Works Civil Construction. These were sold in 1996 and became Opus International Consultants and Works Infrastructure respectively, and the corporation was disestablished.

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