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Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced that he will host the Innovations in Tertiary Education Delivery Summit 2014 (ITES2014) in Auckland on 5 and 6 June.

The new Business Growth Agenda initiatives in Budget 2014 will help reduce capacity constraints in the New Zealand economy and lift our productivity and long-term growth rate, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

Budget 2014 contains funding for a range of initiatives across the six key inputs business needs to get ahead: building export markets, creating skilled and safe workplaces, developing our natural resources, building innovation, and capital investment and infrastructure.

The latest Novopay complaints reports show the school payroll system is maintaining a steady performance.

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the reports on complaints and notifications received in regards to Pay Periods 3 and 4 of the schools’ payroll.  Pay Period 3, was paid on the morning of 30 April, and paid 87,571 people a total of $165.44 million. 

A hundred and three outstanding New Zealand students have been given the opportunity to study at top Asian universities after receiving Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says the scholarships, announced by Prime Minister John Key today at a function at Parliament, enable more New Zealanders to gain a deeper understanding of other cultures in countries that are crucial to New Zealand’s future.

Innovative Kiwi businesses investing in research and development (R&D) will benefit from two new tax measures as part of Budget 2014, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

As a result of Budget changes, loss-making start-up companies will be able to cash out all or part of their tax losses from R&D expenditure, while all businesses will be allowed tax deductibility for R&D “black hole” expenditure that is currently neither deductible nor able to be depreciated.

Budget 2014 provides $198.6 million of operating funding for new investment in tertiary education, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

“This investment will strengthen our higher education system, improve further the quality of our universities, and help maintain their international competitiveness,” he says.

The Government will fund three additional Centres of Research Excellence (CoREs) from 2016, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

Budget 2014 boosts CoREs operating funding by $53 million over four years. Annual ongoing funding will increase to $49.8 million from 2016/17 to support three additional CoREs, bringing the total number able to be funded up to 10.

The Government will increase its investment in contestable science with $56.8 million of operating funding over three years starting from 2015/16 as it continues to grow its science and innovation expenditure as part of the Business Growth Agenda, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says.

“High-quality scientific research is critical to increasing innovation and economic growth, and therefore to improving the lives of New Zealanders,” he says.

New Research and Development (R&D) Growth Grants worth more than $21 million over three years have been approved by Callaghan Innovation for another 15 high-tech companies, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The latest Callaghan Innovation R&D Growth Grants have been approved for a wide range of companies from across the high-value manufacturing and services sector (HVMSS) who have shown a strong commitment to research and development conducted in New Zealand.

New Zealand’s food and beverage industry is well positioned for substantial growth, with exports on track to double in value in the next 15 years to US$40 billion, according to reports released today.

The latest labour market data shows continuing strong employment growth with 84,000 more jobs added to the New Zealand economy in the last year – the largest increase in nearly a decade.

Today’s Household Labour Force Survey shows employment was up by 0.9 per cent – 22,000 people – in the March quarter and up by 3.7 per cent in the last year.

“The latest results show the growing strength of the New Zealand economy,” Mr Joyce says. 

Continuing high demand for the Apprenticeship Reboot means the Government has decided to spend up to $20 million in Budget 2014 for an extra 6,000 places as part of its Business Growth Agenda, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

The Apprenticeship Reboot was announced in January 2013 by Prime Minister John Key alongside an overhaul of the apprenticeship scheme to get more apprentices qualified, especially in construction trades.

A week on and still no word from Labour's David Parker on how his self-proclaimed “big tool” will actually work, Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce says.

“Mr Parker has still not answered the straightforward question of how much KiwiSaver contributions would have to go up for wage and salary earners in order to stop a 1 per cent rise in interest rates for everyone,” Mr Joyce says.

Entries open today for the 2014 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes, which will award a total of $1 million in prize money to some of New Zealand’s top scientists and researchers.

A total of five prizes are presented each year, with the aim of highlighting how science underpins innovation and helps to build a more competitive and productive economy.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says the prizes are an important component in the Government’s programme of supporting and motivating New Zealand’s most talented scientists.

Labour's David Parker needs to front up on how much he would squeeze wage and salary earners with his KiwiSaver jack up plan, Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce says.

Mr Parker couldn't answer a simple question today on how much KiwiSaver contributions would have to go up for wage and salary earners in order to stop a 1% rise in interest rates.

"Surely you must be able to answer that question.  If you can't, it's not a policy, it's not even an idea, it's just a David Parker thought bubble.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced 10 appointments to five tertiary education institution councils, which include seven new council members.

“I am pleased to welcome these high-calibre council appointees into their new roles,” Mr Joyce says.

“These appointments are to the council of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and to four councils in the polytechnic sector, and are intended to reinforce the leadership of those polytechnic councils.

Many key business sectors in New Zealand are evolving rapidly in response to the opportunities of the global economy and the digitisation of economic and social activities, according to two new Government reports released today.

The Labour Party's attempts to talk down New Zealand's economic performance have hit a new low this weekend with David Parker making at least nine factually incorrect statements in one short interview, Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce says.

The departure of prominent Labour MP Shane Jones this week confirms that a Labour-Greens coalition stands for no growth and fewer jobs, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

Speaking at the National Party’s Lower North Island Regional Conference in Masterton this morning, Mr Joyce says Jones’ departure speaks volumes about the Labour-Greens policy prescription for New Zealand.

The latest Novopay complaints reports confirm the system is settling back into a more consistent and steady state after the busy start-of-year period.

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the reports on complaints and notifications received in regards to Pay Periods 1 and 2 of the schools’ payroll. Pay Period 1, the first of the new financial year, was paid on the morning of 2 April, and paid 88,944 people a total of $176.52 million. 

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce today released a study of the East Coast region’s economic potential over the next 30 years.

The East Coast Regional Economic Potential Study assesses the region’s economic performance and barriers to development, and models five economic growth scenarios along with their implications for transport infrastructure and the skills needed.

Labour’s so called ‘Manufacturing Policy’ once again reheats the same old tired economic policies that would take New Zealand back to the dark days of high inflation, sluggish growth and low-job prospects, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

“Labour is stubbornly determined to continue to manufacture a crisis in manufacturing when one simply doesn’t exist,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye today announced that expressions of interest have been released for a Food Safety Science and Research Centre.

Establishing a New Zealand centre of food safety science and research is one of the 29 recommendations from the Government Inquiry into the Whey Protein Concentrate (WPC) Contamination Incident, released in December last year.

Over $100 million of additional taxpayer money has now been collected from overseas-based borrowers in an initiative that will help keep the scheme sustainable for future students and taxpayers, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Revenue Minister Todd McClay say.

The overseas-based borrowers initiative began as a small pilot programme in 2010 and has since expanded to comprehensively target borrowers in default of their repayment obligations across Australia and the United Kingdom, plus parts of Europe, North America and Asia.