PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Education
The State Killed The Apprentice
"The President of the ASTE is correct when she links the destruction of the apprenticeship system as part of the leaky
buildings problem, but her solutions for fixing the building industry's woes are flawed and short sighted,"says builder
Peter Osborne, who is also Libertarianz Associate Spokesman for Education Deregulation.
Osborne's comments were made in response to a press release made by Jill Ovens, the National President of the
Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE).
Mr Osborne says, "The collapse of the apprenticeship system during the 1990s happened because local and national
governments were heaping taxes, levies and time-consuming regulations - one after another - upon the building industry
(among other industries). Neither the taxes nor the regulations helped to improve the industry - quite the reverse; all
aded cost and complication. The cost to keep up, especially for a small builder, became so high and margins became so
low that to compete some serious cost-cutting had to be made. Apprentice-training is a high burden and low productivity
undertaking, and is in most cases a very, very long-term investment. Employing an apprentice soon became an impossible
task for a small builder in an over-burdened industry who was struggling just to stay afloat."
Osborne says that both the National and Labour Governments are responsible for the mess; he says both have continued the
trend to sap as much out of the industry as possible. "Their meddling, taxing and over-regulating has laid a shaky
foundation in the industry and has lead to this problem. Take off the shackles," he says, "and you'll see apprentice
numbers climb again."
Mr Osborne concludes, "Libertarianz when elected will abolish state bullying and the forced imposition of taxation,
government levies and invasive regulations. This will allow individuals to employ reputable builders who set their own
standards, and Builders to concentrate on quality and excellence. They will also have the ability to plan long-term and
train staff effectively knowing that they are not bogged down in bureaucratic meddling and knee-jerk responses to
puffed-up problems. The training of manual skills will be completely left to the private sector where innovation and
excellence are truly recognised."
It's enough to make you vote Libertarianz!
ENDS
For more information contact: Peter Osborne LIBERTARIANZ ASSOC. SPOKESMAN TO DEREGULATE EDUCATION Phone: 0274 326 005,
e-mail: ospar@xtra.co.nz
www.libertarianz.org.nz
www.libz.org