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“The Labour Party needs to tell New Zealanders how they would build 100,000 houses in ten years when they have allocated only enough money to build fewer than 4,000,” Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce says.

“The $2 billion they are allocating to build 100,000 houses is enough money by their own calculations to build 4,000 at around $500,000 per house.

“They say that they will translate the 4,000 houses into 100,000 houses by selling the 4,000 and building new ones in a process known as capital recycling.

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce has today announced the appointment of Sandi Beatie and Marcel van den Assum as new members of the board of Education Payroll Limited, and the reappointment and elevation to Chair of Murray Jack.

New Zealand’s international education industry grew 13 per cent to 125,011 international student enrolments in 2015, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

The International Education Snapshot Report for the 2015 year shows an overall increase of 14,748 international student enrolments and that every region experienced growth.

“This result reflects the great work being done by the education community across New Zealand,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced that entries are invited for the 2016 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes.

“These prizes are New Zealand’s most valuable science awards and they were introduced to raise the profile and prestige of science,” Mr Joyce says. “They celebrate transformative science and innovation and scientific achievement, and aim to attract more young people into science careers.”

2016 is the eighth year the five prizes will be awarded:

New regulations including an updated stricter Code of Pastoral Care come into force tomorrow to help ensure international students studying in New Zealand get the care and support they need for a successful study experience.

New Zealand’s Education (Pastoral Care of International Students) Code of Practice 2016 replaces the existing Code and has a sharper focus on outcomes.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the successful applicants to host three New Zealand-China Research Collaboration Centres, supported through New Zealand’s Catalyst Fund for international science collaboration.

The centres will enable better scientific engagement with China, bringing together researchers across New Zealand in the areas of water research, food safety and security and non-communicable diseases. A total of $3.75 million in funding is available for the three centres over five years.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata have today announced the launch of ‘FindMyPath’, a new website to help young people explore qualification pathways and figure out what they should study to achieve their career goals.

New Zealand’s ranking in adult literacy has improved significantly to fourth in the OECD from 12th in 1996 says Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce.

The Survey of Adult Skills, released today, shows Japan first in adult literacy followed by Finland, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the successful recipients of the 2016 PreSeed Accelerator Fund.

“This fund supports the commercialisation of publicly funded research technologies to the point where new companies can be formed or the technology licensed or sold to existing businesses,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell today announced the successful recipients of the 2016 Te Pūnaha Hihiko - Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund investment round.

“A total of $3.97 million will be invested in 33 new programmes over the next two years,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced that the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy fund will be extended to include industry trainees.

“Literacy and numeracy skills are critical to helping people succeed in the workplace and while they’re training. This change will mean that industry trainees starting out at Levels 1 and 2 on the NZ Qualifications Framework who need to improve their literacy and numeracy skills will be able to get help from specialist providers while they train.”

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Health Minister Jonathan Coleman today announced the opening of applications for a new $7.9 million research fund to help improve the management of long-term health conditions.

“The Government supports research that leads to improved health outcomes and more effective delivery of healthcare for New Zealanders,” says Mr Joyce.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Gerry Brownlee and Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today welcomed the opening of Kathmandu’s new worldwide head office in the Christchurch Innovation Precinct.

The first anchor tenant to open its doors in the precinct, Kathmandu has brought in over 150 staff, including its product design, systems and online development teams, to the central city location.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Communications Minister Amy Adams today welcomed a report showing the technology sector’s value to the New Zealand economy. 

The report, Digital Nation New Zealand: From Tech Sector to Digital Nation, provides analysis of the nature and size of the technology sector and its impact on the New Zealand economy.

The latest round of the Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia have today been awarded to 124 students from around New Zealand. 

The scholarships help New Zealand tertiary students study, research, or undertake an internship at a top institutions in Asia from six weeks to two years.

Today’s awards coincide with an announcement by Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce that three new Centres for Asia Pacific Excellence (CAPEs) will be launched to increase our international linkages.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has announced $34.5 million in funding to develop new Centres of Asia-Pacific Excellence (CAPEs) in New Zealand universities as part of the Innovative New Zealand package in Budget 2016.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Foreign Minister Murray McCully today announced that an agreement has been reached between the Governments of New Zealand and the United States of America covering the safeguards associated with the use in New Zealand of controlled U.S. rocket technology.

The Government is putting in place a new regulatory regime to enable safe, secure and responsible space launches from New Zealand, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

“New Zealand is rapidly building a more diversified hi-tech economy, and one of the companies at the very leading edge of technology is our own home-grown start-up, Rocket Lab,” Mr Joyce says.

Over $3 million has been allocated in Budget 2016 to help accelerate the development of commercial procurement skills across government through the Procurement Functional Leadership Programme, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

“The government’s procurement programme has a proven track record of creating significant value for taxpayers,” Mr Joyce says.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced a new competitive funding process to allocate up to $35 million in annual tuition subsidies for levels 3 and 4 tertiary education study in agriculture, horticulture and viticulture qualifications. 

“This competitive funding pilot will allow the TEC to direct investment at sub-degree level learning towards higher quality delivery, improved value for money, and increase responsiveness to industry needs,” Mr Joyce says.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has arrived in Singapore to explore ways to strengthen the bilateral science and innovation relationship between the two countries and meet with high-net worth investors to promote New Zealand as an investment destination.

Top culinary students from New Zealand and Viet Nam have taken part in a unique culinary competition in Ho Chi Minh City to boost education ties between the two countries.

The students were brought together for two months to develop a three course menu which showcases the best of New Zealand and Vietnamese cuisine, techniques and ingredients. Their dishes were put to the taste test at a gala dinner for 150 guests including the New Zealand Ambassador to Viet Nam Haike Manning and top chefs from both countries. 

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has today opened a new Kiwi technology centre at Quang Trung Software City, in Ho Chi Minh.

The concept centre ‘Kiwi Connection’ is a hub for New Zealand technology companies investing in and doing business in Viet Nam, as well as across the ASEAN region.

The development is headed by New Zealand software services business Augen Software Group, who was the first New Zealand company to win a prestigious Viet Nam IT Excellence award last year.

An extra $3.6 million over four years has been allocated in Budget 2016 for the New Zealand Story – the initiative that builds New Zealand’s profile internationally to benefit our exporters.

The New Zealand Story provides a marketing toolkit used by thousands of companies across all of New Zealand’s export sectors to promote themselves and the New Zealand brand internationally.