Reti ShaneDr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei): Thank you Mr Speaker. Can I start by briefly acknowledging that I cannot be at the graveside just north of Whangarei this afternoon of my friend and colleague Pita Paraone. I say to him e rangatira e moe e moe e moe ana [my leader rest rest rest in peace].Today it's my privilege to lead the National Party fight against these vocational education reforms—reforms that are the most damaging tertiary sector reforms in the past 30 years. Today we fight for the 18000 learners who will disappear due to these reforms. Today we fight for the 2310 apprentices who will disappear. Today we fight for the 11 industry training organisations who will disappear and today we fight for our 16 polytechnics who under these reforms lose their autonomy and bend their knee to the all-powerful Minister. We fight for them because it truly is all about you. On one level I want to actually thank the Minister. On one level while these are damaging reforms to the tertiary sector they are useful for an Opposition tertiary education and health spokesman. They provide tools that we will take to 2020 and that the New Zealand public can decide on. There are tools—it's just a battery of tools across the education portfolio—from the fees-free flop; here now today to the reform of vocational education; in the hands of my very excellent and skilled colleague Nikki Kaye Tomorrow Schools; and all welded together by the chair of the Education and Workforce Committee Dr Parmjeet Parmar.In response to the Ministers' introduction I will talk to four things: job losses loss of autonomy the breaking of industry linkages and assessment of the reforms. Now the background to the reforms is primarily around polytechnics and I will use the wider and general context of polytechnics when I say that because there are excellent polytechnics in the North and South Island. In the South Island there is Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) Ara Institute of Canterbury and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. In the North Island Eastern Institute of Technology and UCOL are excellent polytechnics. However with these exceptions—Chlöe Swarbrick: Otago's pretty good.Dr SHANE RETI: Otago is excellent as well. You're quite right. However with these exceptions the polytechnic sector might be considered as broken. And you know there were parts that were broken in our hands too I acknowledge that. However there are several reasons why we find ourselves in this situation: falling learner numbers due to a well-performing economy and fewer school leavers poor leadership from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) polytechnics can have expensive assets and poor asset utilisation funding mechanisms that did not support the outcomes we all desire and dual funding making mechanisms—the Industry Training Fund with STEM funding and TEC with SAC funding of providers.To address what the Government has said in response to some of these issues I'd make two points: while polytechnic numbers have gone down apprentices and learners in the vocational system have gone up in the past five years—polytechnic numbers down industry learners up which system is broken? Which system do you think is broken?The Minister also talks and spends a lot of time in previous Cabinet documents about the dual funding mechanism. What he's talking about there is industry funding and provider funding through polytechnics. Now the definition of vocational training excludes degree learning nurses and social workers. So under these reforms at any given polytechnic you will have vocationally funded learners and then the degree-level funding—dual systems. So all this does is further support dual funding systems and take them from outside the polytechnic sector and put dual funding systems inside the polytechnic sector.I would make the point that industry was not broken; polytechnics some of them were broken. What the Minister has done is use 150000 industry trainees to fix the polytechnic enrolment problem. He even told Skills Active Aotearoa words to that effect. I took something from the polytechnics"—meaning their autonomy—"and so I had to give them something back" meaning industry learners. Industry has been horse traded for polytechnics.I want to talk to job losses. I will stand behind statements I have made that there will be thousands of jobs lost in these reforms. I'll submit 1000 to 1300 in the ITO sector and at least a further 1000 in the polytechnic sector. Here is the evidence. First of all the Minister has already confirmed that there could be significant job losses on Q+A earlier this year. Secondly the 11 ITOs will be disestablished on 1 April next year and eventually shrunk into four to six workforce development councils. Industry moderators curriculum developers and pastoral care experts they will go. Point three: the 16 polytechnics will be condensed into one mega-polytechnic. What the programme business case tells us around cost savings—page 43 table 13 under "Efficiency benefits"—is this. That's the code for loss of jobs—efficiency benefits. "Efficiency benefits of $130 million in management team savings". That's jobs. That's the jobs right there: management team savings $130 million of them. That's not power savings it's not fleet savings it's not capital project savings but management team savings. These are your jobs.Now following on from job losses there is a very very nasty employment issue in this bill for polytechnic employees. It goes like this: Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act is there to protect vulnerable workers which in tertiary education are cleaners food workers and laundry staff. Now what Part 6A says is that if you are a vulnerable worker and the business is sold or reconfigured then the incoming entity has to guarantee your job.Now on 1 April polytechnics become subsidiaries. And this is a reconfiguration that meets that definition. So vulnerable polytechnic workers would have been guaranteed a job in the subsidiaries except this blinded Labour - New Zealand First Government has written this into the bill. This clause overrides Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act 2000. This bill overrides protections for vulnerable polytechnic workers who might lose their jobs on 1 April next year when they form a subsidiary. The "Government of the people"—the "party of the workers"—doesn't think twice about vulnerable workers when they want to drive through their ideology. Even if you are not a vulnerable worker you will still be caught up because every employment contract has to have an employment protection provision for exactly these situations when the business is sold or reconfigured.Here's how the bill catches everyone else. This clause overrides any employment protection provision in any relevant employment contract. This bill and this Labour - New Zealand First Government will ride roughshod over the rights of vulnerable workers and every polytechnic employee.It actually gets worse. This just deals to polytechnic employees at the moment who transition into the subsidiary. In two years' time those subsidiary workers if they're suitable and if there's a job transfer into the mega-polytechnic. That's actually covered as well because what it says about that transition—and as the Minister answered in oral questions today if there is no job for you you will be made redundant. And here's the spinner if you are that clause that would have given you those protections is overridden in this bill—Part 6A of the Employment Relations Act. Again any employment protection provisions are also overwritten.Where is the Tertiary Education Union on this? Where are they fighting for the union members? Don't worry the National Party will fight for workers because it's all about you. If these guys won't we will. We're the only voice in the job loss space at the moment.Here is how many people could be affected in each of your polytechnics: small Tai Poutini Polytechnic 168 headcount; NorthTec a small size 319; SIT a medium size 624 headcount; and the biggest Ara in Canterbury 1400.I then want to move on to a loss of autonomy. Under these reforms the voice of local people will be lost. What courses are taught where and how will be decided by the workforce development councils—the regional skills mix decided by the workforce development councils. Academic freedom—every polytechnic currently has an academic freedom board they all get formed into one and the mega-polytechnic has the only one academic freedom board. Interestingly they have to give regard to the workforce development councils. Wow let's see the academics talk about their bridge of academic freedom in that. Polytechnic governance and community involvement are all breached under this bill. We've already talked about cash reserves and capital projects. This bill reduces autonomy for local people.Industry training: under these reforms 15000 industry trainers will leave industry and come under the control of the one mega-polytechnic. There are several issues we have with this. What happens to small ITOs like the Hairdressing Industry Training Organisation? Who speaks for them? There's real risk that their 2000 to 4000 learners and apprentices will be swallowed up by big ITOs and their voices will be lost. We fight for those hairdressers because it's all about you too.There are a number of things we could talk about. If we look at the independent assessment if we look at what the Tertiary Education Commission and what Treasury have said they have said these reforms will fail. The Minister acknowledges there are 18000 learners who will be lost in this process—2310 apprentices will be lost. These reforms will fail.So today it's my privilege to lead the National Party fight against these educational reforms. We will fight for the learners we will fight for the apprentices we will fight for the ITOs and we'll fight for the polytechnics who under these reforms lose their autonomy and bend their knee to the all-powerful Minister. We fight for them because it is truly about you. Thank you Mr Speaker."