Annual Review Function for Apprentice Training NZ

Wednesday 3 November 2004

It’s good to be here talking about creating real skills for real jobs.

Here in Christchurch and New Zealand we have a booming economy and Christchurch and Canterbury have been major players in this boom.

I'm sure many of you will have noticed with some frustration that the biggest block to making the most of this boom has been the shortages of key skills.

We have not trained enough people in real skills for too many years. It is good that central Government has changed that policy in recent years, but your work here has been vital in helping keep the apprenticeship idea alive.

The current skills shortage is summed up best in a cartoon that ran in the New Zealand Herald earlier this year. It showed a couple standing over a cradle admiring a mobile hung with tiny wee saws, hammers and measuring tapes. Both parents are looking hopefully at the baby while one says something along the lines of, "It's probably our best shot at getting a carpenter here in Auckland."

It's not much better down here. Unless of course you have those skills that are now so in demand. Then it's great.

As an old Tech boy, I've always seen strong merit in teaching people practical skills. I’m always glad to recognise the same belief in others.