Reti — Regions sure to miss out

Whanga¯rei MP Shane Reti last week warned that the government’s proposed reform of vocational education (including polytechnics) would strip power from regional New Zealand and hand it to Wellington bureaucrats.

“Businesses and the regions know what demand there is for skills in their own backyard, but this government wants all the decisionmaking to be done by a centralised body in Wellington,” he said.

“Industry training organisations, which represent businesses and their needs, will be disestablished. These are the groups that know and understand the demand for the trades better than anyone else.”

National believed there was a need to address issues of quality, sustainability and getting more skilled people into trades, but the idea that all that could be solved in Wellington was “naive.”

The reforms were also much more comprehensive than had been anticipated, National fearing mass job losses.

“Education Minister Chris Hipkins said he hadn’t done any work on that,” Dr Reti added.

“Given how much uncertainty there is, there should be a thorough consultation period. Instead there will be just six weeks for industry to have its say. Mr Hipkins wants this in place next year, which means rapid upheaval for the sector.

“The discussion document was also strangely silent about the future of private training establishments and wa¯nanga. These institutions deserve certainty about their futures.

“I encourage Mr Hipkins to put his ideology aside and extend the consultation period so the people who understand their own industries and communities can be involved in the process.”