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RNZ News
37 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Tāmaki Makaurau by-election to be held in September
The death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp late last month triggered the by-election. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Tāmaki Makaurau by-election will be held on Saturday 6 September. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed the date for the by-election this afternoon. The byelection was triggered by the death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp late last month. Former journalist and broadcaster Oriini Kaipara will run for Te Pāti Māori, while Peeni Henare, who narrowly lost to Kemp at the last election, will contest the seat for the Labour. Hannah Tamaki will contest the seat for Vision New Zealand. Speaking at a post-cabinet conference, Luxon said National would not contest the vacant seat. "Across the Māori seats, we've typically not run candidates [and] where we have it's all been about a party vote campaign in general elections," Luxon said. "That's what our focus has been so, we don't see a need for us to run a candidate in Tāmaki Makaurau." Kaipara said last week she pledged to tackle the cost of living crisis with a focus on housing, youth homelessness, and food bills. "Māori are being attacked left, right and centre for purely existing. It's vile and it's not good enough," she said. "My role now is to move from covering the story to changing it." Henare said he was "humbled and honoured" to be selected by his party. Access to quality and affordable health services, affordable housing and relief from the rising cost of living were a top priority. "Tāmaki Makaurau is where I was born and is my home. I know the challenges that many whānau are facing. The cost of living is putting significant pressure on whānau just to put kai on the table," "My focus is clear. To fight for real solutions so our people can flourish," Henare said. Luxon said it would be interesting to see whether the by-election would be a "real fight" or a "pillow fight" between Labour and Te Pāti Māori. He said he "felt sorry" for Henare, who he said was thrown "under the bus" by Labour leader Chris Hipkins at the last election for not finding another way to challenge the narrow loss. The Green Party have also ruled out running a candidate. The by-election Writ Day will be 30 July and the deadline for candidate nominations is midday Tuesday 5 August. The last day for the return of the Writ will be Sunday 28 September. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Watch: Christopher Luxon on the the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds have revealed the latest on the disestablishment of the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology, Te Pūkenga. Luxon also announced the date of the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election, following the sudden death of Te Pāti Māori's Takutai Tarsh Kemp. It will be held on 6 September 2025. Te Pūkenga, the mega-institute that combined polytechnic and workplace training and education, is due to be disestablished by 31 December 2026, and be replace with 10 stand-alone polytechnics and a new system for work-based industry training. The 10 polytechnics will start functioning on 1 January 2026, with Te Pūkenga operating for another year to cater for courses that aren't offered by the 10 named institutions. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Te Pūkenga changes: 10 polytechs to return to 'regional governance'
Otago Polytechnic, one of the 10 polytechs to return to "regional governance". Photo: Google Street View The government is moving ahead with its long-signalled plan to re-establish polytechnics merged under Labour into the super-institute Te Pūkenga. Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds confirmed 10 polytechnics are returning to "regional governance" as part of the government's plan to build a vocational education system that's "locally led, regionally responsive and future-focused". Labour combined 16 polytechnics and nine workplace training providers at the beginning of 2023 . The coalition government moved quickly when it came to power, agreeing as part of its 100-day plan to begin the process of disestablishing the mega institute. The announcement comes after listening to "extensive industry feedback" Simmonds said, and the changes were part of legislation currently before Parliament. "We campaigned vigorously against Labour's reforms which saw all New Zealand polytechnics merged into one unwieldy and uneconomic central institution, Te Pūkenga, taking away the ability of regions to respond to local training and employer needs," Simmonds said on Monday. "Labour dismantled regionally led vocational education - and we are restoring it". She said she was confident the coalition's plan will set the sector up for "long-term economic and learning success". The ten polytechnics returning to regional governance, which will begin operating from 1 January 2026, are: NorthTec, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT), Whitireia Community Polytechnic and Wellington Institute of Technology (Whitireia and WelTec), and Tai Poutini Polytechnic (TPP) will remain within Te Pūkenga for now as they "work toward viability, with decisions due in the first half of 2026". Penny Simmonds. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver There will be an "anchor" polytechnic of the new federation - the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. That federation will coordinate programmes and other services, including shared academic boards, Simmonds explained. "It will provide a low overhead way for polytechnics to create more efficient business models than they could on their own through the use of online learning resources and programmes." Just last week Te Pūkenga warned MPs the government would have to bail out struggling polytechnics despite its reforms. Te Pūkenga will continue to operate as a "transitional entity" for up to a year, allowing for a "smooth handover", and the new legislation allowed for mergers or closures if polytechnics were not able to achieve viability. "With more than 250,000 students in the vocational education system each year, these changes offer greater flexibility, financial sustainability, and ensure training remains relevant to employment needs," Simmonds said. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said vocational education - and the polytechnic sector - mattered deeply to communities, the economy and the country's future. Luxon said the vocational education system had been through a "turbulent few years". "The last government's Te Pūkenga reforms intended to strengthen the system, but what we've seen instead is a model that's become too centralised, too removed from local communities, and ultimately too slow to respond to regional training and employer needs. It's not good enough." He added it was a "good day for communities" getting back their polytechnics "as we had said before the election". Simmonds rejected assertions there'd been a lack of consultation with Māori, saying she'd engaged with the education group of the Iwi Leaders Forum. In selecting 10 polytechnics, Simmonds explained those institutes had financial pathways to "affordability" whereas the other four had "got some work to do, they've got some unique challenges". She explained those challenges were unique to those institutes and their communities, like being small or needing to shift campuses. Simmonds acknowledged Te Pūkenga was in surplus, but said that was because the "duplication of bureaucracy" in the head office had gone. Asked whether these reforms recreated that duplication, Simmonds said that was not the case. "The main purpose of the federation is to support the smaller polytechnics that don't have the capacity themselves, particularly in online learning." On whether all polytechnics would be operational in two years time, Simmonds said that was "their responsibility". Those who were still facing "unique challenges" had been given a business case with a pathway to financial viability "if they stick to it.". Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
