Hon Steven Joyce
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills & Employment
Hon Tariana Turia
Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills & Employment
20 June 2014
Latest Māori & Pasifika Trades Training providers announced
The latest five groups selected for the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training initiative were today announced by Tertiary
Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Associate Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister
Tariana Turia.
The joint initiative by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tertiary Education Commission will
fund 3,000 places by 2015 to encourage young Māori and Pasifika people to gain qualifications, New Zealand
apprenticeships and employment.
“The Government is investing $43 million in the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training initiative to help young people to
develop skills in trades that are needed right now and in the longer term,” Mr Joyce says.
“New Zealand’s economy is now growing strongly and there are big opportunities over the next few years - particularly
with the need for housing and infrastructure in Auckland, and the Christchurch rebuild – for anyone interested in trades
careers to train and take up apprenticeships.”
“By bringing iwi, hapū, Māori and Pasifika groups together with community, business and tertiary education
organisations, this initiative is a unique way of supporting Māori and Pasifika young people while also strengthening
our local communities,” Mrs Turia says.
“This training is an opportunity for Māori and Pasifika to play a larger role in self-determining their destiny and is a
way to pursue a trades career, gain vital foundation skills and access a pathway to employment and an apprenticeship.”
The latest five groups, or consortia, chosen are in negotiation with MBIE and TEC to finalise their funding contracts.
All of the consortia announced include employers, Māori and/or Pasifika organisations, and tertiary education
organisations. The consortia are led by:
• Te Matarau Education Trust and Northland Polytechnic (Te Tai Tokerau Māori and Pasifika Trades Training in
Northland, focused on building, and primary industries)
• Auckland Council (The Southern Initiative Māori and Pasifika Trades Training, in South Auckland, focused on
infrastructure trades)
• Unitec, Manukau Institute of Technology and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa (the Auckland Māori and Pacific Trades
Initiative, focused on construction and infrastructure trades)
• Waiariki Institute of Technology (Waiariki Māori and Pasifika Trades Training in Rotorua, focused on carpentry)
• Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou (Te Toka Initiative on the East Coast, focused on carpentry, agriculture and
forestry)
Earlier this year, contracts were signed with seven consortia to provide trades training in the Hawke’s Bay, the East
Coast, Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury.
“The majority of these courses are underway and I am expecting the latest five consortia to begin their courses in the
coming months,” Mr Joyce says.
The aim of the Māori and Pasifika Trades Training initiative is to enable more Māori and Pasifika learners, aged 18-34,
to obtain trades apprenticeships and qualifications that lead to skilled and sustainable employment.
More information is available at: www.mbie.govt.nz/what-we-do/business-growth-agenda/skilled-safe-workplaces/maori-pasifika-trades-training-initiative
ENDS