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

“I am pleased to welcome these high-calibre council appointees into their new roles and to welcome the reappointment of a number of council members in recognition of the high-quality governance they have been providing to these institutions,” Mr Joyce says.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Labour Minister Simon Bridges today welcomed the completion of the major policy programme to respond to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy.

“With the completion of this critically important work, the Government has met the commitment we made in December 2012 to respond to all the Commission’s recommendations by the end of this year,” says Mr Joyce.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the investment of more than $2.4 million to help unlock the science and innovation potential of Māori knowledge, resources, and people.

Eighteen programmes will receive $2,425,772 in funding from the Te Pūnaha Hihiko Vision Mātauranga (VM) Capability Fund, administered by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, with decisions informed by an independent assessment panel of experts.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced funding of up to $804 million over ten years for the second tranche of New Zealand’s National Science Challenges.

The ten National Science Challenges were announced in May, and funding for the first three Challenges was released in October. 

The remaining seven Challenges and their funding levels are:

High demand for the Government’s Apprenticeship Reboot means the Government has decided to add another 4000 places on top of the 10,000 already funded, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

The $31.2 million Apprenticeship Reboot was announced in January by Prime Minister John Key, as part of an overhaul of the apprenticeship scheme to get more apprentices qualified and more in priority trades.

Results from the first end of year pay for schools show the good progress that has been made this year in stabilising Novopay, Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce says.

The Government today released the report on complaints and notifications in regards to Pay Period 19 of the schools’ payroll.

Pay Period 19, which was the largest school pay of the year, paid 92,086 people a total of $221.89 million on the morning of 11 December.

Two new specialist research institutes are being established at Victoria University of Wellington to take up some of the fundamental science work previously conducted by Callaghan Innovation, as part of Callaghan’s move to focus on more near-to-market research for Kiwi firms.

Minister of Science and Innovation Steven Joyce today released the final Business Case for the development and growth of Callaghan Innovation, New Zealand’s new innovation partner for Kiwi businesses, over the next three years.

Mr Joyce says the Business Case lays out how Callaghan will support New Zealand’s business and science sectors to be more innovative and competitive.

The Government today announced changes to the structure and level of support for overseas and New Zealand film and television productions to ensure the further development of New Zealand’s screen industry.

The new changes are designed to encourage the growth of mid-sized New Zealand-based productions that can compete successfully on the world stage; while also increasing the competitiveness of our incentives for international productions in the short to medium term.

The Government today announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Lightstorm Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation that will see the next three Avatar films made in New Zealand.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister John Key, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Christopher Finlayson at Wellington alongside Avatar Director James Cameron, Producer Jon Landau, and Twentieth Century Fox Film co-President of Worldwide Theatrical Marketing and Distribution Paul Hanneman.

Minister of Science and Innovation Steven Joyce today announced two appointments to the Science Board – the Board responsible for the allocation of funding used predominantly by research organisations for science, technology, research, and related activities.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced a new stakeholder advisory group that will help Callaghan Innovation, the Government’s new high-tech HQ for business, achieve its mission of helping businesses grow through commercialising innovation.

“This nine-member panel will be an important source of independent expert advice for Callaghan Innovation’s Board as it aligns with business needs,” Mr Joyce says.

Chair of the group is Dr Andrew Coy, Chief Executive of Wellington technology company Magritek.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced that 89 outstanding New Zealand students have been selected to study at top education institutions in Asia next year as part of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia.

Mr Joyce says the scholarships, which cover study periods from six weeks to two years, will enable undergraduate and postgraduate students to gain a deeper understanding of Asia.

A world-leading project to transform Christchurch into a smart city of the future and create opportunities for New Zealand’s tech sector is to receive support from Callaghan Innovation, the Government’s new High Tech HQ for business.

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the report on complaints and notifications in regards to Pay Period 18 of the schools’ payroll.

Pay Period 18, which was paid on the morning of 27 November, paid 89,785 people a total of $176.64 million.

The report shows that complaints and notifications were received regarding 0.079 per cent of staff across the country, eight staff were notified as not paid, 38 were overpaid, and 25 underpaid. Affected staff were from 62 schools or 2.53 per cent of schools in the payroll system.

The Government is providing $10.5 million in additional funding for schools to raise student achievement in maths and science, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.

“Boosting the skills and achievement of our young people in maths and science are essential for their future careers and for New Zealand’s economic growth and prosperity,” Mr Joyce says.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata today announced the Science and Society project, a unique joint education-science sector plan to lift engagement and achievement in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) across New Zealand.

The rising wealth of neighbouring Pacific Rim countries presents a great opportunity for New Zealand tourism, a new Government report says.

The Tourism Sector Report was today released in Auckland by Prime Minister and Tourism Minister John Key and Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce. The Report is the fifth in a series of seven that make up the NZ Sector Reports Series.

Two New Zealand research groups have secured prominent positions in one of the world’s largest and most ambitious science projects – the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

AUT University and Victoria University of Wellington will lead two work areas in the pre-construction of the SKA. These two areas are in the Central Signal Processor and the Science Data Processor work packages, working alongside other New Zealand experts.

Canterbury's international education industry is showing strong early signs of recovery with a 6 per cent increase in students according to latest data, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says.

The International Education Snapshot report released today also shows that high-quality courses in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and postgraduate enrolments continues to trend upward.

The latest enrolment numbers for the tertiary sector are consistent with forecasts, with a slight decline in total numbers for the first eight months of this year.

Overall in January to August 2013 there were 349,000 domestic students enrolled in formal study with tertiary education providers, which is 0.9 per cent less than the same period in 2012. The number of full-time equivalent domestic students was down slightly to 234,855.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced that the Wellington Institute of Technology and Whitireia New Zealand will be investing $13.6 million in a new Regional School of Construction for Wellington.

Speaking at the launch of the Construction Sector Report at WelTec, Mr Joyce said the new initiative will consolidate engineering and construction programmes around the region into two main hubs centred in Petone and Porirua.

The construction sector is one of largest in the New Zealand economy employing 7 per cent of the workforce and growing, a new Government report shows.

New Zealand’s economic recovery continues to be led by the regions, the latest ANZ Regional Trends report released today shows.

The report highlights that 12 out of 14 regions recorded a rise in economic activity in the September quarter and year-on year this was the strongest rate of increase since December 2004.