Goodhew Jo: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Goodhew Jo: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 27 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:8252. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon JO GOODHEW (Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector) 
: 
 The National-led Government has a really strong plan and a busy agenda to encourage investment strengthen our economy and boost jobs for Kiwis and that is the overarching reason that we on this side of the House get up in the morning. On the other side of the House it would appear that those members get up knowing that they are led by a man wearing a toga sitting on a toilet—a man wearing a toga sitting on a toilet. That must really inspire them to get up in the morning! 
I have a message for Ms Annette King before she leaves the House and that is simply— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! 
Hon JO GOODHEW 
: My apologies. You are right; I cannot say that. Nevertheless I will put on  
Hansard  
a correction to the statement that Ms King made in a newspaper. Ms King will need to know that when she deals in the health sector no one asks for anything more than the facts. There are no cuts scheduled for Ashburton Hospital and she has worried the people of mid-Canterbury. But when they read in the paper tomorrow that there was no substance to her claim they will know that this is yet again just a Labour Party member who is scaremongering and cannot come up with anything concrete. 
In Ashburton the earthquakes struck there too. We have lost the theatres in Ashburton. They will be rebuilt. There has been an absolute undertaking that they will be rebuilt. Yes certainly the provision of services at the moment is different but there are no planned cuts to services. Ms King should start out as she means to continue which is with the facts. 
But back to the National Government. Across New Zealand we are faced with a wide divergence of what the communities have to deal with. In Christchurch it is the effect of the earthquakes. I am going to talk about the women in Canterbury in a moment. Also in Canterbury—in South Canterbury—we have just recorded in the last year 4.4 percent growth. That is phenomenal and in part that is on the back of the Canterbury earthquakes. 
I want to go into my message for the women of Canterbury and then I am going to talk a little bit about apprenticeships as well. Right now there are many jobs available. Right now there are also many women in Canterbury who are no longer in the jobs of caring retail and hospitality that they once were in. I want to exhort them to think about their skills in a different way think outside the box because if they used to manage a small business then they can go back and they can manage a small business again but it might be a small construction business administration or project management. So I exhort the women of Canterbury to think differently about their skills to look through the paper and instead of discounting the advertisements and saying: “That’s for a man. That’s for a man.” to think again—actually apply for those jobs. 
We are actually making it quite a lot easier in terms of apprenticeships as well. Five new vocational pathways are clearly showing young people which sorts of subjects they should take to prepare them for their future. From 1 January next year we will combine Modern Apprenticeships and other apprenticeships-style training under an expanded and improved scheme called New Zealand Apprenticeships. Regardless of their age the new apprenticeships will provide the same level of support and subsidy for all apprentices. I think that is fabulous because once again I exhort the people of Canterbury who are no longer in the jobs they once had because of the earthquakes to consider this opportunity. 
The trades are crying out for people who will take on a new skill and I certainly encourage them to do so. We already have 4000 places available in trades and services academies and around 8700 Youth Guarantee places. These are the pathways into work. This is the future for people. This is a future beyond relying on the minimum wage. This is a future where they have skills and they are rewarded with employment with those skills. They certainly have a much brighter future under this Government. 
We are also boosting the overall apprenticeship funding. The current top-up for Modern Apprentices will be redistributed across all New Zealand apprentices. In addition there will be around an extra $12 million in the first year. That will rise over time. So this Government is putting an awful lot of emphasis on to lifting the profile of and participation in apprenticeships. We are also giving the first 10000 new apprentices who enrol after 1 April this year $1000 towards their tools and off-job course costs or $2000 if they are actually in a priority construction trade. 
There is a lot happening in this space. It is a much brighter future for New Zealanders under this National Government which is working hard to achieve it.