
Prime Minister Chris Luxon faces questions on building product investment, immigration numbers
He will join Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking at 7.30am.
It comes after Luxon said the Government would be increasing the number of building products available in New Zealand, including plasterboard, cladding systems, external doors and windows.
He made the announcement at the weekend with Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk, who said thousands of overseas building products had been given the green light for construction.
'[This ends] costly monopolies on a small number of products that are currently used in New Zealand,' Penk said.
'It is 50% more expensive to build a standalone home in New Zealand than in Australia. That is frankly outrageous.'
Luxon is also expected to face heat this week from NZ First leader Winston Peters, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, over his concerns about the number of migrants entering New Zealand.
Peters said he is observing an 'alarming development' overseas where 'careless immigration policies' are 'transforming cities' and 'changing centuries of development and social life'.
He referred to his party as 'nationalist' while his coalition partners are 'globalists', and believes Kiwis are increasingly worried about immigration issues.
'We intend to turn that problem into a success story, so people do understand that, when you're coming here, there are some fundamental things you need to sign up to,' he said. 'If you don't want to sign up to it, don't come.'
Meanwhile, Luxon's new hotline to curb overzealous road cone use has come under scrutiny, with a chief executive of a traffic management company saying he is very doubtful it will work.
Traffic management planning company Parallaxx helps train WorkSafe staff for the hotline, but chief executive Dave Tilton is sceptical of the concept, partly due to the number of people a report needs to go through before action is taken.
'We absolutely have oversupply [of road cones] beyond the minimum without question ... but I'm very doubtful that this particular thread [the hotline] is going to bear fruit in fixing it.'

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Otago Daily Times
11 minutes ago
- Otago Daily Times
Mixed reaction to NCEA replacement plan
A pair of Dunedin principals say the proposed replacement for NCEA will be an improvement, but a teacher's union representative is concerned there will be a loss in flexibility for students. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the Minister for Education Erica Stanford have announced a proposal to replace the entire NCEA programme with new national qualifications. Year 11 students would be required to sit a foundation test in numeracy and literacy and year 12 and 13 students would receive two new qualifications — the New Zealand Certificate of Education and Advanced Certificate of Education. Students would be required to take five subjects and pass at least four of them to receive a certificate being awarded a mark out of 100 and grades "that make sense to parents like A, B, C, D, E". Otago Secondary Principals' Association chairwoman Jackie Barron, who is a principal at St Hilda's Collegiate School, said her initial thoughts were the curriculum change would give teachers some certainty and schools some clarity around what was expected of them. Despite being positive about the changes, she said the information was new and would take time to process. There was previously some anxiety around what the NCEA was going to look like with recent changes to the qualification made in an attempt to put a stronger focus on literacy and numeracy. "This gives us a really clear timeline," Ms Barron said. There was enough time for teachers to adjust to the new curriculum as major changes to year 12 and 13 courses were not expected until 2028. Ms Barron thought it was the right call to replace NCEA if the new curriculum was inclusive and engaged all students. She said one of NCEA's strengths was its flexibility and it was important not to go back to a narrow form of assessment that only tested certain types of learning. "We need to maintain the openness to valuing all different types of learning." Otago Boys' High School rector Richard Hall said the proposed new curriculum appeared to be an improvement on NCEA. He said the existing NCEA framework faced challenges posed by an "attitude that can favour mediocrity". There were issues with it including excessive credit counting and an over-reliance on internal assessment at the expense of robust external examination opportunities. Otago Boys' had maintained a strong expectation for its students to sit exams even if they had already received all the credits they needed to pass. "We believe that a shift towards a potentially 50/50 model of internal and external assessment [exams] would represent a beneficial step forward," Mr Hall said. PPTA Otago regional chairman Kussi Hurtado-Stuart was concerned the new qualification would lose some of the flexibility NCEA had. He said the loss of flexibility would affect neurodiverse learners the most, especially if exams were heavily weighted. He was worried teachers would not be given enough resource support to transition into the new curriculum. "I think that there was a moment of solidarity and eye rolls this morning across the country both at the change that was proposed and the support they said we were going to get." Teachers' expectations were reasonably low there would be any support. Ms Stanford said the NCEA change programme was already funded and some proposals like the expansion of Vocational Education and Training pathways would require additional funding that would be considered in future budgets. The flexibility NCEA offered in externals and internals would be maintained with the new qualification and special assessment conditions would be, too.


NZ Herald
23 minutes ago
- NZ Herald
Arup backs NZ infrastructure with skills boost for major projects
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'There needs to be a multi-pronged approach looking beyond a single project and working with the private sector to understand the long-term needs and changes in skills. 'Take the Auckland second harbour crossing, for example. It's a project that needs multi-disciplinary engineering - civil, geotechnical, environmental. You can develop a set of skills and move on to the next project, which will be slightly easier, cheaper and quicker to do because the capability exists locally.' A multi-pronged approach should include an audit or review of infrastructure skills (to accompany the new Infrastructure Plan), and industry-led vocational training. De Cani says people often assume it's the job of the government to fix the skills shortage. 'What we learnt in the UK was that the government can't fix it on their own. 'The Government sets the policy, guidelines and initiatives, and the private sector gets involved with (on-the-job and vocational) training and employing the new skills that match the long-term infrastructure plan.' De Cani says a new growth sector in the UK has been offshore wind generation in the North Sea. Twenty years ago, there were no windfarms and now they produce 30% of UK's power, the second-largest installed capacity worldwide. The investment into that infrastructure included adjusting the training for young people and equipping them to work at height and in a marine environment – skills like (underwater) welding and electrical engineering to maintain the offshore wind turbines. The young people in the coastal towns of north-east England, suffering from unemployment, saw the opportunities and took advantage of them, says de Cani. 'The plan provided the opportunity to address areas of deprivation and poverty. The programme over 10 years identified the new skills and involved the public and private sector working together to establish training colleges and develop local capability and certifications. London's Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy (TUCA), set up initially to develop specialist skills for CrossRail, continued beyond the completion of that mega project to train workers for other large infrastructure projects. 'In New Zealand, you are looking at city and regional deals. There are many of them in the UK and the deals have been used to fund investment in skills in local areas which benefit from the economic growth.' De Cani says it's important to take control of the investment agenda and establish certainty in the infrastructure pipeline. 'If it's uncontrolled, overseas investors can bring in their own workforce, do the development and then take the workforce away. Where is the community benefit in that?' He says New Zealand is an attractive destination for people to live and the country's unique topography and geotechnical conditions offer interesting work for infrastructure professionals. But the country is a long way away. 'The approach to infrastructure has been stop-start, and there's a wariness about the country's ability to stick with a long-term plan. 'If it's only one project, then the big contractors will consider whether it's worth their while going there. Global companies need to look beyond one project – it's all about having confidence in the long-term plan.' De Cani says New Zealand's draft Infrastructure Plan shows the pipeline of projects that would extend beyond the three-year political cycles. Skills are mobile and New Zealand is competing globally due to growing infrastructure demands and net-zero transition commitments. He says there's delays with a number of infrastructure projects in the United States because of changes to government funding, and New Zealand can benefit from that volatility. 'Arup is committed long term to working in New Zealand on a wide range of infrastructure. We can add our expertise and experience and help guide the infrastructure development. 'New Zealand faces similar challenges to other countries and we are using our network of clients and relationships to highlight the New Zealand opportunity. 'Arup has introduced a more unified regional operating model in Asia Pacific which allows greater workforce mobility and enables skilled staff to work seamlessly across borders,' says de Cani, who has 30 years' experience in planning and consulting including delivering the long-term transport strategy for London. The type of infrastructure required, whether it's new build or retrofit, is more complex, and all types of engineering skills are in demand. Richard de Cani, chief officer for global business and markets at Arup Arup has been operating in New Zealand for more than 30 years, and has 100 staff working out of offices in Auckland and Wellington. They can draw on support from the Asia Pacific network with its 30 offices and 6400 staff members. The global consultancy, with advisory and technical expertise across more than 150 disciplines, was founded by British-born engineer and philosopher Ove Arup, who was the design engineer for the iconic Sydney Opera House. With a total 18,500 staff in 95 offices around the world, Arup's engineers, architects, environmental specialists, data scientists and others have planned, designed and influenced the future of the built environment in more than 160 countries. New Zealand has tapped into Arup's global expertise in large-scale infrastructure projects. Arup supported the Ghella Abergeldie Joint Venture (GAJV), the contractor responsible for delivering Auckland Watercare's nearly-completed 16km Central Interceptor project, which connects the Māngere Wastewater Treatment Plant to Point Erin in Herne Bay. Arup provided detailed design services to GAJV, including tunnel lining and shaft support systems, drawing on its international tunnelling experience. The global consultancy also brings to New Zealand the benefits of its experience and industry networks developed in designing ambitious transport projects like the Oresund Link, a joint road and rail link that crosses international shipping lanes to join Sweden (Malmo) and Denmark (Copenhagen), and includes the second longest bridge in Europe. There's also the Presidio Parkway, a section of US Route 101, which serves as San Francisco's gateway to the Golden Gate Bridge and was reconstructed to address deterioration and earthquake vulnerabilities. De Cani says, 'We work at the front end of design on projects around the world, and there is an interesting curiosity about what is happening New Zealand with its high level of ambition [in infrastructure development].' Arup is an advertising sponsor of the Herald's Infrastructure report.

RNZ News
41 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Parents cautiously optimistic about waving goodbye to NCEA
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announce changes to NCEA. Photo: RNZ / Nick Monro A Dunedin mum is hopeful the changes to NCEA will benefit her Year 7 son, but another says she's a "bit scared". The government has pulled the pin on New Zealand's official secondary-school qualification after more than 20 years. The National Certificate of Educational Achievement will be gone by 2030, replaced by a basic literacy and numeracy award at Year 11, and the Certificate of Education and Advanced Certificate of Education at Years 11 and 12. 'Achieved', 'not achieved', 'merit' and 'excellence' will be replaced by marks out of 100 and letter grades A, B, C, D and E. The new certificates would be standards-based, like the NCEA is, meaning every student passes if they demonstrate the required knowledge or skills, but they would have to study at least five complete subjects and pass four of them to get their certificate. A Dunedin mum, who RNZ has agreed not to name to protect the identity of her child, was optimistic about the move . "It will be an advantage to him because it gives that nice, stringent 'I know what I need to head for, I need to study really hard for this'." She called NCEA a "step backwards", saying the change was a return of a more structured way of learning and a focus on core subjects . "As an employer of people coming out of university, I can tell you it kind of sets them up a little bit for failure in real life," she said. "I find that the English levels, the maths levels and science levels coming out for students just isn't quite as good as some of the historical stuff that I've seen coming out of the older styles." Another mum, who has a son just starting university and a daughter in Year 9, said the NCEA system was confusing. "Even I couldn't understand this credit system and achieved system. I always thought 'what is this? Credits? Credits?'. "But one thing I've noticed, if he knows he has got enough credits, then he decides he's not going to work any harder." The new grading system could push them to study harder or discourage them from learning, she said. "As a parent, I am a bit scared, to be honest." She was uncertain how students would respond to the changes, saying it would depend on how they were implemented. A grandmother who lived with her Year 8 grandson said she was on board with the changes if they helped students. "That's what I would be hoping for. Something that makes it easier for the kids to show that they've really, really tried and that they do want to be at school and they want to learn and that they want to get a job when they get away from school, and that they want a better life." But she was worried some students might choose to drop out if they had to pass four of their five subjects to get one of the new certificates. "That does sound a bit tough because if a child or a young adult can't handle exams - to pass four subjects may just be beyond their capability," she said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.