Another missed opportunity for youth

new-zealand-labour-party

Wed Apr 06 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Another missed opportunity for youth

Wednesday, 6 April 2011, 4:40 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

Jacinda ARDERN
Employment and Youth Affairs spokesperson

6 April 2011

Another missed opportunity for youth

The Government’s failure to get young, unemployed New Zealanders’ into jobs has been highlighted by its negligent approach to the Canterbury rebuild, says Labour’s spokesperson for Employment and Youth Affairs, Jacinda Ardern.

“There are 58,000 young people in New Zealand who are not in any form of employment, education or training, many of whom are actively looking for opportunities to train and work,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“The Christchurch earthquake has provided us with an opportunity to encourage these young people to seriously consider a career in the trades industry as over the coming months and years, there will be a massive demand for tradespeople and construction workers.

“The Government needs to ensure not only that there are enough places at training institutions, but that there are also enough apprenticeships. It has failed on both counts.

“There was a perfect opportunity for the Government to take action when they set out the tender to rebuild 10,000 homes in the Christchurch area. When asked today in Parliament why they didn’t write in a requirement that the successful contractors take on apprentices to help fill our skills gap, the Prime Minister simply replied that he did not know what the Government had asked for during the tender process.

“If the Government does not come up with a plan, and soon, we will suddenly find ourselves resorting to imported labour, something the head of the Registered Master Builders has already warned us about.

“When we have so many people here in New Zealand who are currently out of work and who could easily be trained to work in these industries, ‘not knowing’ is just not good enough,” Jacinda Ardern said.

ENDS

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