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It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon and can I say how pleased I am to see international education on the agenda.

Over the last few years as Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment I’ve been privileged to travel overseas promoting New Zealand as a study destination, and helping to establishing links between New Zealand and overseas institutions.

Tena koutou katoa     

Ambassador Taylor, Trade Commissioner Anderson, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, and the Indonesia New Zealand Council, members of the Renewable Energy delegation, representatives from New Zealand and Indonesian education institutions, Tourism New Zealand, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

I’m pleased to here today in place of my colleague Simon Bridges, who is in Toronto for the 2014 Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference – a major event in the international minerals exploration calendar.

Simon will be promoting New Zealand, especially the platinum minerals exploration tender for parts of the South Island.

Introduction

Good morning. It’s great to be here.

Today I’m going to outline and launch the new Tertiary Education Strategy for 2014-19.

The new strategy builds on the gains we as a sector have already made. It will drive the tertiary system to be more outward facing and engaged, with stronger links to industry, community and the global economy.

I’m also going to detail the final package of changes we’ll make to the Performance-Based Research Fund to make it more efficient and more effective.

Ladies, gentlemen and distinguished guests, I’d like to thank the organising committee for inviting me here today. I am delighted to be here at the China Hi-Tech Fair, China’s largest and most important hi-tech event which has been presenting the latest scientific, technological and economic developments for the last 15 years.

Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, and of course the members of Emirates Team New Zealand.

What a fantastic welcome home for the team. These guys deserve this.

I told you guys it was getting pretty big.

I had the honour of witnessing on behalf of the New Zealand Government first-hand the talent, the perseverance, the relentless hard work and the highs and the lows of Emirates Team New Zealand in San Francisco.

This whole team, on and off the water, threw every single thing they had into this event.

Launch of Draft Tertiary Education Strategy and proposed changes to university and wānanga governance

Introduction
Can I thank Pat and Victoria University for hosting me here today.

Today I would like to outline the government’s new Tertiary Education Strategy.

It will chart the direction for the tertiary sector over the next five years, a direction that will ensure we stay up with the world’s best, and deliver on the needs of our students in the 21st century.

Introduction

Tēnā koutou katoa.

Thank you for having me at the NZAPEP Conference. It’s good to be here again.

I’d like to acknowledge the NZAPEP Board, the Chair Christine Clark, and the Deputy Chair Margie Sorenson.

I move that the New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Commerce Committee to consider the Bill. At the appropriate time, I intend to move that the Bill be reported to the House by 14 November 2013.

Mr Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to introduce this Bill.

This Bill is first and foremost about investment, jobs and growth for New Zealand and their families.

Good morning distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

The inaugural New Zealand-China Partnership Forum is an historic event. This session presents a rare opportunity for a frank and useful exchange on bilateral investment between public and private-sector leaders from both our countries.

The New Zealand Government sees attracting new investment as crucial for New Zealand’s growth and prosperity. New investment creates jobs and grows incomes.

Foreign investment is a key part of increasing overall investment in our economy.

Good morning. It’s a pleasure to speak to you today.        

I think we are as a team making great progress in lifting achievement, improving quality, and improving value for money in the tertiary education sector.

Despite difficult financial times and virtually no new money we are training and qualifying more people across the tertiary sector. More people than ever have tertiary qualifications, so we are making good progress. We are continuing to build on this to get even better results.

I move that the Callaghan Innovation Bill be now read a third time.

Mr Speaker, this is a special day in a special year for New Zealand science and innovation.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Advanced Technology Institute Bill be now read a first time.

I nominate the Education and Science Committee to consider the bill.

Good afternoon, thank you for opportunity to speak at your conference today.

Since I spoke to you last year the New Zealand economy has been steadily rebuilding out of the GFC. Our economy is almost two-and-a-half per cent larger than it was this time last year, and the Christchurch rebuild continues to ramp up.  According to the March quarter Household Labour Force Survey 10,800 more people are employed in construction in Canterbury than this time last year, and the reality is we have just begun.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Mixed Ownership Model Bill be now read a second time.

This Bill and debate, is about controlling our nation’s debt, strengthening New Zealand’s capital markets, and providing funding for new high-priority infrastructure projects.

No nation can afford to let debt get out of control.

Huge debt is at the core of why the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Greece are being forced to impose tough measures – we don’t want that for New Zealand.

In Budget 2012 the Government will be focused on rebalancing our overall spend in tertiary education between expenditure on student support and investment in tuition and research.

We have one of the most generous student support systems in the world.  Rebalancing it a little will free up some money that we reinvest in the quality of tertiary education we provide, and help our overall fiscal position.

Salam alaykum

Tena koutou katoa

Greetings to you all

First, can I say what an absolute privilege it is to be asked to provide the concluding remarks to this wonderful event: the International Exhibition & Conference on Higher Education.

I come from a small country from the other end of the world. New Zealand is a good 17 or 18 hours flight from Riyadh but it is a testament to how truly international that international education is today that every year 7000 Saudi students study in my country.

Thank you for the introduction Steve. It’s a pleasure to be here this morning.

I’d particularly like to acknowledge our international guests, including: