Choudhary Ashraf: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Choudhary Ashraf: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:615;Page:10934] 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) 
: 
 This evening at dinner time I had the opportunity to attend the Chinese New Year celebrations where there were 300 people. I was delighted to see the happy faces of the people particularly the Chinese people who had gathered from all over the country to see what the Government is doing in terms of the apology that was made 2 years ago and what initiatives or actions are in place following that. I was pleased to hear this Government announcing a $5 million seeding grant for a community trust which will be administered by people who are the sons and daughters of those early Chinese people who settled in New Zealand. It was really great to see the Chinese people feeling that they are part of this society. Even the speaker from the New Zealand Chinese Association mentioned how proud he was that for the first time he felt equal to any other New Zealander. I thought that was a great occasion for us to celebrate. We are one united nation in this country. 
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Waitangi Day celebrations in Palmerston North. It was really great to see so many Maori Pakeha and other nationalities gathered together—many thousands of them—to enjoy the occasion and to celebrate the unique thing in this country that is the Treaty of Waitangi which brings people together. I was proud to be part of that gathering and I feel proud that this nation is moving ahead together side by side and making progress. 
Like my colleagues here today I would like to speak about some initiatives and achievements particularly in the area of training and education. I pay tribute to my colleague the MP for Palmerston North Steve Maharey who has made a lot of very good initiatives in that area. There are a lot of positive stories to tell about what is happening in New Zealand. It is great to see New Zealanders taking up work-based learning options. The Government wants to build up an even wider variety of opportunities to ensure that our young people successfully make the transition from school into the world of work further education and training. Successful programmes like the Gateway programme and Modern Apprenticeships are already showing strong results indicating that young people are taking up the expanded range of training opportunities now available. 
 In the area of tertiary education we are making student loan repayment easier as part of the plan to make tertiary education more affordable. From 1 April this year the income threshold for student loan repayment will rise and the maximum income level for a full interest write-off for part-time part-year students will also rise. We anticipate a $2.6 million decrease in student debt largely due to our decision not to charge interest rates during the period of study and to freeze fees for 3 years. Our fee maxima policy will keep the cost of tertiary education affordable and certain. Also more debt has been repaid over time as the scheme matures. The Government intends to further reduce student debt by widening eligibility for student allowances. 
Much has been said about Maori and Pacific Island students not performing very well in education. Maori have historically been under-represented in education especially in fields like medicine and dentistry. We have now been offering scholarships for many years as a positive way to gain greater access for Maori to those professions just as they have been used in the past to encourage students of other groups such as women to go ahead. They still have to meet the same standards as everyone else to graduate and practise. When a person walks into some educational institution or Work and Income New Zealand to justify income support that person gets it on the basis of need. How it is delivered will reflect such things as age gender ethnicity region and so on but the entitlement is based on need not on race. 
Industry training gives people in employment the opportunity to gain recognised qualifications through a combination of on-the-job and off-the-job learning. Record numbers now participate in industry training. At the end of September last year there were 88777 industry trainees. The Modern Apprenticeship programme reached its target of 6000 trainees 3 months early this year and at the end of September 2003 there were 6073 young New Zealanders participating in Modern Apprenticeships. The programme has expanded to be available in 30 different industry sectors widening the apprenticeship concept beyond its trade origins. We are on track to reach our target of 7500 Modern Apprenticeship apprentices by 2006. The Gateway programme broadened the choice of secondary school students by offering them structured traditional and workplace training. Originally piloted in 63 schools the programme has expanded and should include all 203 1 to 5 decile schools—those in the areas of high social need—by 2007. Creating a world-class tertiary system we are investing $25 million over the next 3 to 4 years in the University of Otago’s Leading Thinkers programme. This is a partnership programme between the Government the university and private funding donors. The partners aim to recruit internationally known academics to help foster innovation particularly in the areas of science and business. 
I want to say a word about skilled migration which is pretty much a win-win situation for all of us. Changes to the skilled migrant category make it easier to attract talented individuals who can bring needed skills to and create new opportunities for New Zealand. By focusing on settlement outcomes for the skilled migrants as well as on New Zealand’s actual needs the skilled migrant category is a win-win situation for both migrants and New Zealand. The talent visa scheme has helped over 2020 employers recruit people to fill skill shortages by targeting talented and skilled people around the world. The London office of the New Zealand Immigration Service has launched a customised service providing an information brokerage service to match prospective immigrants with the New Zealand job market. 
Similarly funding for the Auckland Metropolitan Migrant and Refugee Strategy to move greater numbers of skilled migrants and refugees into work was announced in December last year. This will also help to close the skills gap faced by Auckland business. The strategy includes funding for English language tuition over the next 2 years and a multilingual contact centre that will help job seekers speak to Work and Income in their own languages. 
Nothing would be more divisive now than to force a one-nation charter. Responsible leaders must acknowledge the aspirations of all elements of our society. Dr Don Brash and the National Party will need to do better than they are doing. Treating people fairly does not necessarily mean treating them exactly the same. It is like growing a plant in a garden or field. We need to determine a plant’s need for water and nutrition. If we under-irrigate or under-fertilise those plants they will either die or underperform. Labour’s core mission is to build a confident and dynamic nation based on an innovative growing smart economy that can deliver more jobs more opportunities and higher living standards. The nation we seek to live in is creative looks after its environment andvalues diversity and tolerance.