Creating a local workforce for city centre

Walking down Invercargill’s Esk St, it’s hard to imagine the changes that may be coming in a few short years. The demolition and rebuilding of an entire city block, complete with gleaming food court and retail precinct, a new arts centre in Wachner Place, around the corner the ILT’s new hotel. And over in Queen’s Park, a redeveloped museum, with thousands of visitors each year.

Thinking about it all, the words of J F Kennedy come to mind ‘‘For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future’’.

Yet a cursory glance at the daily newspaper reveals the challenges that lie ahead, if the vision of a revitalised city centre is to be realised.

Many of these challenges, like how we retain our architectural heritage, or the scope of our redeveloped museum, are important issues for our community to solve.

Others however, like the shortage of skilled workers to rebuild our city’s infrastructure, or the lack of housing to accommodate them, will require input from central Government.

Such challenges are not unique to Invercargill, with estimates suggesting we may be 30,000 construction workers short nationally, if we are to build at the scale needed to address our country’s infrastructure deficits.

Fortunately the Government has already made a start.

It is currently consulting on changes to immigration settings that would make it easier to fill vacancies for skilled workers.

One option under consideration is a KiwiBuild skills shortage list.

Another is requiring Level 8 and 9 international students to study in long term skills shortage areas for their partners to be eligible for partner work visas.

This would send a signal, both to international students and to training providers about the qualifications in most demand.

The Government will also need to work with the construction industry and training providers to ensure we are training enough of our own skilled workers.

The Construction Skills Strategy and Action Plan, currently under consultation, is a step in this direction.

It aims to ensure we have the right people, at the right time, with the right skills, to meet our country’s workforce needs.

The Government is also reviewing industry training and apprenticeships and our institutes of technology and polytechnics.

These reviews aim to ensure a sustainable future for our training providers and that they work together to meet the skills needs of our regions.

Other Government initiatives which present local opportunities include KiwiBuild, which aims to deliver affordable, quality homes for first home buyers and the Provincial Growth Fund.

This will distribute $3 billion over the next three years for projects that create jobs and promote sustainable economic development.

We are at the cusp of significant but much needed change.

However, we will need to take a strategic approach to realising the opportunities on offer, if we are to build a sustainable future for our region.

Liz Craig is an Invercargill-based Labour List MP