King Colin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
King Colin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 07 November 2012. Volume:685;Page:6348. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
3. 
COLIN KING (National—Kaikoura) 
 to the  
Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment 
: How is the Government helping Cantabrians upskill for the Christchurch rebuild? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister for Tertiary Education Skills and Employment) 
: 
 Last week the Government announced that it has committed a further $28 million from the Skills for Canterbury contingency to maintain the extended training pipeline for tradespeople for the Canterbury rebuild. This ensures that in 2013 providers will be able to build on the additional 3500 trade training places and student support provided over the last 2 years. Christchurch will require thousands of builders plumbers landscapers electricians and engineers. It is crucial we have sufficient skilled tradespeople to meet this demand. The trade training funding under Skills for Canterbury is helping to ensure sufficient appropriately skilled people will be available. 
Colin King 
: How much has been invested to date in the Skills for Canterbury initiative? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: The amount spent in total to date is now $65.2 million. This includes $16.7 million from Tertiary Education Commission baselines $11.7 million of reprioritisation from polytechs and institutes of technology and now $36.8 million from the Skills for Canterbury contingency. This money is invested in places this year and last year with similar numbers to be available in 2013. Initiatives include the Pacific trades initiative the Maori Trade Training initiative and funding for the new Canterbury Skills and Employment Hub. Can I say that there are places available right now for people to be involved in the Christchurch rebuild. The Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team for example is recruiting for around a thousand people to be trained and employed for the rebuild and I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in being part of it to contact their local training provider and find out the opportunities available to them. 
Colin King 
: Has he seen any other proposals about how the Government might have allocated the funding? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Indeed I have seen and received a number of suggestions over the last year advocating that the entire Skills for Canterbury contingency fund be spent immediately if not sooner irrespective of need rather than on an as-required basis. These proposals came from a group of people whose definition of success is entirely about how much money they can shove out the door as quickly as possible rather than what is required. These people have no concept of how to balance the books. I am of course referring to the New Zealand Labour Party. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The Minister was lucky that was the very last word he said. He should not attribute his summary of policies to another party especially in response to a question from his own colleague. 
Dr Megan Woods 
: Was he advised in March this year that in order to meet the demands of the rebuild there was a requirement for a thousand additional Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team places to be established in 2012; if so why was there an 8-month delay before Minister Brownlee launched the team’s training and employment programme on 1 November 2012? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: In response to the question of course it was required—it was needed in 2012 and it has been provided in 2012. 
Dr Megan Woods 
: I seek leave to table a document a briefing from the Tertiary Education Commission to Minister Joyce dated 28 March which shows a requirement for a thousand additional places made in 2012 made up of 500— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. 









Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.