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E ngā mana, e ngā reo, Ngai Tahu,  tēnā koutou katoa.

E ngā iwi e huihui nei i tēnei rā, tēnā hoki koutou.

This is such an amazing complex. 

I always love coming here – the beauty, the majesty, the awesome feeling of being in this wharenui.  I always think of the late great Monte Ohia and his passion for mātauranga Māori. 

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.

Rau rangatira ma, nga mata waka, nga karangaranga maha, tena koutou.

Talofa lava, malo e lelei, kia orana, bula vinaka, fakaalofa lahi atu, namaste, malo ni, halo ola keta, mauri, fakatalofa atu.

Ki a koutou hoki te mana whenua o tenei rohe, Te Ati Awa, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou.

I want to thank Kura Moeahu and Waiwhetu Marae for the warmth of your welcome. It is always good to return to this marae, a marae which lives up to its name, Aroha ki te tangata.

Thank you also to Reverend Nove Vailaau for opening our hui.

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.

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.

E nga matawaka e tau mai nei i tenei ata ki Te Kunenga ki Purehuroa, tena koutou katoa.

Nga mihi o te Tau Hou Maori ki a tatou katoa.

I am pleased and proud to be here today to launch the Maori and Pasifika@Massey University strategies.

E te iwi e tau mai nei ki Whitireia i tēnei ahiahi, tēnā rā koutou katoa. Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Kia orana, Bula vinaka, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Namaste, Malo ni, Halo ola keta, Mauri, Fakatalofa atu.

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.

E rau rangatira ma, e huihui mai nei ki raro i te maru o nga marae o Ngati Maniapoto, tena koutou katoa.

E Barney, e Koata me nga kaumatua o Maniapoto, tenei te mihi ki a koutou katoa mo ou whakaaro rangatira kia ora tonu enei waiata tuku iho hei taonga ma nga uri whakatipu. Na reira, tēna koutou katoa.

In making our way here to the land of Maniapoto, I reflected on the legacy begun in the late 1970s, by the movers and shakers of the day - Morehu Te Whare, Kingi Hetet, Koro Wetere, Daniel Te Kanawa – and the whānau that dreamed of a better day.

Tēnā koutou.  Tēnā koutou ki te hau kāinga, otira, ki a tātou katoa.

Auckland, 27th October 2012

Tēnā koutou.  Tēnā koutou ki te hau kāinga, otira, ki a tātou katoa.

Thank you for inviting me to speak at your graduation ceremony tonight.  Today I have travelled from Greytown in the Wairarapa to be with you. 

The journey to be here tonight has meant long hours of travel for me, but let me acknowledge straight off the journey that each of you has taken to be here.

Tangata whenua, business leaders, staff and conference attendees, tēnā koutou.

To John Fiso and the Board of the New Zealand Association of Private Education Providers, thank you for the opportunity to share with you some thoughts at the closing of your conference.

The writer Alvin Toffler, once said, “the illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn”.

E te tupuna whare, tēnā koe. E ngā uri o Ohomairangi, tēnā koutou. Kia ora tātou katoa.

I acknowledge my parliamentary colleagues, Todd McClay and Te Ururoa Flavell, Dr Toby Curtis, Malcolm Short and Mayor Kevin Winters.

Mai Maketū ki Tongariro ...
Ko Te Arawa te waka
Ko Te Arawa māngai-nui ūpoko tū-takitaki

From Maketū to Tongariro ...
Te Arawa the canoe
Te Arawa the determined people

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.

Tena koutou katoa

Ki a Kingi Tuheitia, me te kahui ariki anei nga mihi. Aa ki te tangata whenua o te rohe nei, nga iwi o te waka o Tainui – tena koutou.

Talofa lava, mālō e lelei, bula vinaka, kia orana, tēnā koutou katoa.

Thank you to Reverend Alesana McCarthy for our opening karakia this afternoon. 

To Anita Finnigan, the visionary who founded BEST some 24 years ago, staff of the BEST team and whānau here today - thank you for inviting me to be the keynote speaker at your graduation ceremony for the Certificate in Tourism and Certificate in Business Administration.

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.