Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Thank you Madam Chair. I just want to take a quick moment to respond to a couple of things the Minister said. He said in his speech that the biggest risk was doing nothing at all. I'd like to just remind him of the Tertiary Education Commission which said that the risk of workforce disruption by these changes was almost certain and the impact would be extreme. The risk of participation in vocational education reducing would be almost certain and the impact major and the risk of needs of industry and employers not being met would be almost certain and the impact extreme. So I don't think it's fair to say that the biggest risk is doing nothing; the biggest risk is what the Minister is doing right here today. I'd like to take a few moments to talk about my local polytech which is the Manukau Institute of Technology and I have Supplementary Order Paper 434 to remove it and exempt from these changes. I do firstly want to acknowledge that yes the Manukau Institute of Technology has faced some financial challenges but if you look at this submission which they made in regards to this bill they highlight the impact that there has been over the past year due to the reduction in international students as a direct result of this Government's changes to immigration policy and visa processing delays. That has been a significant contributor to some of their financial challenges. I think the Minister needs to reflect on the changes which have been made and the impact that they have had on this sick sector plus also the visa processing delays which this Government has caused and the cost that that has had on the sector. As they said that has limited their ability to respond to the needs of the community that we serve. The Minister can stand there and talk about how the sector may be struggling and failing but he also needs to take some responsibility for the Government's changes and policy changes that his Government has brought in as well. One of the key points that the Manukau Institute of Technology makes is that they currently serve 14000 students studying and training at the institute. Of these 38 percent of them identify as Pasifika. If you look across South Auckland we all know that it has a large proportion of Pasifika people living in South Auckland. Now the key question that they have raised and asked in their submission is where is the voice of Pasifika people in this new mega polytechnic? We've got the student body the student representatives we've got the staff body we've got the Māori advisory panel; where is the voice of Pasifika in this establishment? They asked for the establishment of a statutory Pasifika advisory council set up to represent the voices of Pasifika peoples. So my question to the Minister is to challenge him and ask him to take a call and explain to the communities of South Auckland what he has done in response to that request by the Manukau Institute of Technology and the voice of the Pacific community that they represent in South Auckland. The second question I'd like to ask the Minister is how is he going to ensure that South Auckland's voice is not lost in these changes? He said that the head office won't be in Auckland or Wellington. So how is he going to ensure that South Auckland's voice is going to be represented? South Auckland has one of the youngest populations in New Zealand. South Auckland has some of the biggest infrastructure challenges over the next 20 to 30 years. You just need to look at Mill Road which they cancelled then started again or the development at the airport which is going through the roof. There is an enormous amount of work being done. There is going to be a huge need for skills across South Auckland and the Manukau Institute of Technology is a crucial part of delivering those skills for the future. So I want the Minister to stand up and to tell the people in South Auckland the people in my electorate the people in east Auckland that he can guarantee that there'll be no reduction in traineeships and student participation in South Auckland and there will be no reduction in those roles for the future jobs that are coming on stream over the years to come. Because that's what matters in South Auckland—it is that we have the skills and the people we have people willing to fill those jobs; they need the skills. The Manukau Institute of Technology does a great job helping to task them to do that and he needs to stand up and guarantee that there'll be no reduction. Because if you read the Tertiary Education Commission's report they said there is an extreme likelihood of an extreme impact of a reduction in those traineeships across New Zealand.