Reti ShaneDr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei): Thank you Mr Speaker. Fast and furious? Not even close. Last and spurious is much more likely. Last to the party and spurious in their decision making—that's what we have with this Government. Finally the last speaker Meka Whaitiri dared to address the toxic-for-them polytechnic reforms and I want to acknowledge the member who's just resumed her seat for daring to go to those issues which are absolutely deadly for this coalition Government.I want to talk to the devastating polytechnic reforms that will damage vocational education for many years to come. I want to talk about the impacts of the reforms on the number of learners regional autonomy jobs financial implication and their own assessment of the likelihood of success. So I don't want to use any of our data; let's just use what have come out as official documents and with their own information they will hang themselves on their own bollards.The key to the polytechnic reforms as announced by this Government are two things: first of all apprentices moved to polytechnics—all 45000 to 50000 of them moved to polytechnics. The second main strategic objective is that polytechnics are amalgamated. So let's then look at the impacts of those policies across a range of areas.First of all what are the impacts on vocational learners? Again don't look at our data. Go to page 53 of the programme business case table 21. What it shows here is that in the short term and the medium term there are 20000 less learners under these reforms. Be very clear the narrative says under these reforms there will be—it actually says—at least 18000. It's not that we can blame the economy because the economy does have an influence on the number of learners. It specifically says under these reforms there will be nearly 18000 less learners. That is the impact in the short and medium term of these damaging polytechnic reforms. And remember at election year Chris Hipkins said I'm going to increase vocational learners by 15 percent." Really? Actually by your own documents you're going to decrease them by between 18000 to 20000.Let's look at the impacts of the polytechnic reforms on regional autonomy. The one mega-polytechnic will decide what you teach where you teach it and how you teach it. They talk about how they will decide whether you will use online learning. How can that be? How can one universal mega-polytechnic know better than the regions as to how you should deliver a course?Secondly what they'll do is they'll take your cash assets. And we know what those cash assets are. Yes they will go up and be ring-fenced into regional community assets—and as New Zealand First correctly says they will be spent back in the regions—but who has the decision making about how to spend them? The regions? No; the one mega polytechnic. And this is a big number for a number of polytechnics and I challenge—Hon Andrew Little: How are NorthTec's spending decisions?Dr SHANE RETI: That's a very good question. NorthTec will actually give up $3.684 million to the one polytechnic because you think you know better than NorthTec. I've got news for you: you don't know better than NorthTec. The people of NorthTec know better than NorthTec and in fact the people in the regions know better than this one mega polytechnic. I could go through all the cash assets but let's keep moving.What about job losses? We came out around about 13 February and said there'd be at least a thousand jobs lost in these reforms. Well we know there are a lot more. We know there could be up to 1300 lost as the industry training organisations are disestablished and we knew there was at least another thousand in the polytechnic sector. Well now we can confirm it with the documents that were released where they describe that the efficiencies will be made from management team savings—$130 million in management team savings. Which management teams are going to go? Are they coming from NorthTec? Are they going from Christchurch? There are at least a thousand jobs in the management team savings. There are significant job losses in this.If we have a look at how they're going to fund this—a number of things. Here is the message: fees-free needs to continue to fail to fund the polytechnic reforms. It needs to continue to fail to fund the polytechnic reforms. I know why Willie Jackson is so sad and angry these days. The Prime Minister promised 4000 Mana in Mahi apprentices. That's been peeled back in Budget 2019 to 2000—and I know why. Because Cabinet signed off that the Minister of Employment will pay for the regional leadership groups under these reforms and the document shows it's $100 million. He's got every reason to be unhappy.And then let's look at the assessment of this whole devastating reform—their own assessment the Tertiary Education Commission. Will there be workforce disruption? Almost certain. Will the needs of industry and employers not be met? Almost certain. Will the needs of regions not be met? Almost certain. And will the new model not achieve desired outcomes? Likely and the impact is extreme. These reforms are devastating. They will damage the New Zealand economy.The debate having concluded the motion lapsed."