PQ 7. Employment and Skills Training—Reports [Sitting date: 09 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:6. Text is subject to correction.]

7. IAN McKELVIE (National—Rangitīkei) to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment : What reports has he received on the progress of improving New Zealanders’ skills and employment?

Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment): I have received a number of reports, all of which indicate good progress as we approach the end of another year. On skills, more Kiwis hold tertiary-level degrees than before, and we have had big increases in Māori and Pasifika enrolled in Bachelor’s degree levels and above, in particular. The number of qualifications completed across all levels of study is up by 54 percent for Māori students in the last year and 88 percent for Pasifika students. That is since 2008. At 5.4 percent, the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since March 2009 and trending down, and the most recent figures show that on average New Zealanders are receiving wage rises each year ahead of the cost of living, which is helping them to get ahead.

Ian McKelvie : What is the Government doing to build New Zealand’s skill base to meet the ongoing needs of the economy?

Hon STEVEN JOYCE : The Government is working hard right across a range of areas to deliver the skilled workforce necessary to drive our growing economy in the years ahead. For example, we are investing an additional $40 million over 4 years for more engineering places in universities and polytechnics to raise the proportion of students graduating with engineering qualifications. We are responding to the need for more skilled information and communications technology workers by launching information and communications technology graduate schools next year in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, and we are increasing the number of Māori and Pasifika trade training places over the next few years from 3,000 to 5,000. With 72,000 new jobs created in the past year and the Government on track to meet its target of 171,000 new jobs by mid-2015, these initiatives will help ensure that we have the right skills for a productive and competitive economy.

ENDS

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