King Colin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
King Colin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Volume:655;Page:4672] 
11.  
COLIN KING (National—Kaikoura) 
 to the  
Minister for Tertiary Education 
: What recent reports has she received on the number of industry trainees and Modern Apprentices? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY (Minister for Tertiary Education) 
: 
 I have received a report on the industry training and Modern Apprenticeships statistics for the first quarter of this year. That report which will be released today shows that the number of industry trainees held firm from the December 2008 quarter to the March 2009 quarter. In fact there was a marginal increase. In addition we have seen a 4 percent increase in the number of Modern Apprentices. Previous economic downturns have seen business shed trainees which has stopped them from taking advantage of the economic upturn when it came. I am very proud of the fact that the report released today shows that this Government is giving industry the confidence to retain and in some cases to add to the 133454 industry trainees it has. 
Colin King 
: Has the Minister received any further reports from the industry on industry trainee numbers? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: I am very heartened by comments from the Industry Training Federation which stated: “By and large employers are actually responding quite differently in this recession than in the past. There is no doubt some firms are shedding labour but the general picture is the opposite. … they are doing their best to hold on to people;”. It is very important that businesses retain their trainees but it is also important that businesses continue to take on more trainees so that we grow our skills base. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: How does the Minister reconcile her statement in relation to those figures: “Good quality tertiary training is vital to improving the country’s skills base so we can take full advantage of the eventual economic upturn.” with her confirmation today that polytechs will have to turn away some 6000 aspiring students who will no doubt end up on the dole instead? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: Easily and that member only quotes part of what I said in that interview. I said that I was hoping that polytechs would be prioritising the courses that are particularly aimed at young people Maori and Pasifika people who are the worst sufferers in a recession. They are the first people to be made redundant or to be unable to find education. I was asking the institutions to prioritise courses that led on to employment. That will take care of many of those people. 
Colin King 
: Has the Minister received any reports on commentators using misleading industry trainee figures? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: Yes. I have seen a statement from the Hon Phil Goff where he alleges that 2800 trainees are out of work. Well Mr Goff conveniently forgot to mention two points about that figure. Firstly the figure was the number of trainees out of work in the building and construction sector across the 14 months leading up to March of this year. He was complaining about trainees being put out of work during 9 of the months when he himself was a front-bench Cabinet Minister which was a bit of a spectacular own goal. Secondly Mr Goff neglected to mention that in that same newspaper article that he plucked the 2800 figure from it was pointed out that already 1200 of those workers had found new training opportunities. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: How does the Minister imagine that New Zealand will emerge better skilled from the recession with her continual squeeze on polytechs which is foreshadowed to get worse next year and the continual knock-on effect on industry training organisations or is she relying on her investment in private schools to do the job? 
Hon ANNE TOLLEY 
: That is a ridiculous assertion by that member. We are in middle of an economic recession and that means that this Government has to set some priorities around funding. We have made some responsible decisions. I have asked tertiary institutions to prioritise the courses that will lead on to employment and that will deliver skills to people who are seeking employment. If that member is saying that we have slashed industry training then when Labour was in Government it must have done the same thing. It only gave the CPI funding increase to industry training for 1 out of 9 years. So if we have cut it the previous Labour Government must have cut it too.