Graduation Speech

Tena koutou katoa ¡V greetings to you all

Your worship Jeremy Dwyer, Mayor of Hastings, Frank Findlow, Operations Director Heinz Watties, friends ¡K

I¡¦m delighted to be involved with this graduation ceremony today, and to have the opportunity to come through the Gorge and visit with you in the Hawkes Bay.

The first thing I want to do today is to thank those who have made this occasion possible. I want to thank all those who have had the vision and the drive that has produced an environment in which staff have the opportunity to keep learning and achieving nationally recognised qualifications. I know today is the culmination of many years¡¦ hard work and organisation by management, staff, and employee representatives towards this goal. It must be very satisfying to see it marked in such a special way.

And, of course, I want to congratulate those of you who are graduating.

Today Adrienne D¡¦Ath, the chairperson of the Skill New Zealand Board, will be presenting over 100 staff with their National Certificate in Food Processing, and Frank Findlow will present another 30 with their Team Leadership Certificate.

Congratulations to you, your families and whanau. You¡¦ve demonstrated the sort of energy, motivation and skill that it takes to be nationally recognised in any field of endeavour. It¡¦s a tremendous effort that you should all be proud of. And remember that these qualifications are national qualifications ¡V they are part of a framework that includes qualifications at the degree level, trade qualifications, and entry-level qualifications.

I¡¦m also aware from my own experience that when someone commits to study, it¡¦s usually something the whole family shares in and needs to support. So to the families and whanau of those graduating today, thanks for getting in behind these people and helping them reach their goal. I know as a learner that involvement and support can often make the difference between getting there and not getting there.

What I want to talk about now is how we can build on what¡¦s happening here in Hastings, because improving access to skills education and training and national qualifications is an issue that I want every community to think carefully about.

Last year there was a lot of talk about what New Zealanders had to do achieve a knowledge economy. Unfortunately, it was a concept very few people could relate to. There was a real danger of that knowledge economy being an exclusive club for a privileged few that left a lot of people on the sideline.

This society needs university and polytechnic graduates, but it also needs qualified people in the wealth and jobs creating sectors of the economy. It needs people like those graduating today who have to demonstrate a complex array of technical and problem-solving skills every day so that the company and the country can keep moving forward. You and your skills are going to make the difference to the standard of living we all enjoy. We need an approach to learning, work and life that says all have us have plenty to learn and all of us have lots to contribute throughout our lives.

And it¡¦s only going to work if it includes all of us.

And it¡¦s only going to work if we make it available and accessible in each community and in as many workplaces as possible.

And it¡¦s only going to work if we come up with solutions that are practical and achievable and that everyone can understand.

Because if we leave people behind then we really are failing as a country to do everything within our power to match the skills and knowledge of our competitors.

So we need a country with the best scientists producing cutting edge production technologies, and we need the research and development staff in the private sector, but all that will be to no avail unless we have a country where people are very good at what they do in whatever field they work and are encouraged to put in the effort to get better.

This Government is committed to making these workplace learning opportunities available to a lot more folk just like you. We want to walk the talk, and people like you show us the kind of pathway that others need to follow. You show us genuine achievement ¡V and that is something real that can inform and inspire others when they hear about it.

Let¡¦s face it, it¡¦s not easy combining workplace learning with a full-time job, family responsibilities, kids and the host of other things that demand our time. But here at Heinz Wattie¡¦s Australasia you¡¦ve found a way that works.

You¡¦ve shown in a very practical and tangible way that it can be done and done to the highest standards set by your industry, and recognised as part of a National Qualifications Framework. As Associate Minister of Education, I¡¦m really excited and encouraged by that and I want to make it happen elsewhere.

I want to see more New Zealanders gaining the recognition they deserve for what they know and can do through the National Qualifications Framework. I want to see more businesses recognising and developing the talents of their workforce by offering the type of well-planned and structured workplace learning that¡¦s available here.

The modern world demands that all of us keep learning throughout our lives. We want that learning to be in our schools and in our tertiary institutions, but we also want that learning to be on the job. Learning on the job, in the workplace, needs to become a much more common feature of people¡¦s working lives than it is at present in New Zealand.

I¡¦m convinced that there¡¦s a lot of talent and potential lying out there untapped at present in our local workplaces and communities. But we need to give people the opportunity and encouragement to keep learning.

Finding the right training options for our workplaces is a big challenge. The answers will be different depending on the region, the type of business and the people involved.

To come up with answers that are meaningful we need to share our expertise and to see what works and what doesn¡¦t. We need be open to new ideas and front up to the issues and barriers that stop people learning and achieving to their full potential.

This Government is working with people and communities to develop the partnerships that will allow this to happen much more easily than in the past.

Let me give you some examples of the kinds of partnerships that I'm think of.

Most obviously, the partnerships that are in evidence here today signal a way forward:

„h Partnerships within an industry and within an enterprise

„h Partnerships between management and employees

„h Partnerships between enterprise and Industry Training Organisations

„h Partnerships with the members of the Government's official family ¡V Skill New Zealand and the NZ Qualifications Authority

But I want to see other partnerships developed:

Partnerships between schools, employers and polytechnics that allow senior secondary school students to start down the path that you have completed ¡V why shouldn't we have those students picking up unit standards while still at school? Why shouldn't they do that in conjunction with an employer ¡V on the job for part of the day ¡V or in partnership with a polytechnic? The new Coalition Government has a programme in mind ¡V we call it the Gateway programme, and I am keen to see that programme piloted in the very near future ¡V if you think that kind of partnership is a good idea, write and tell me

I want to see partnerships that allow young people to go into apprenticeship type training ¡V remember when we had apprenticeships? ¡V as I look out at this audience today I see the heads nodding and I see people who received their early training as apprentices. In the next few weeks the Government intends making an announcement that will be about bringing apprenticeships back ¡V modern apprenticeships, delivered in new and exciting ways

I want to see partnerships between industry, industry training organisations, polytechnics and other providers, and Government departments and agencies ¡V there's been too much mistrust and I sense that people have forgotten how to work together ¡V well I see my job as reminding them how to, and at the level of the government the new management expects that to happen

What we¡¦ve got to avoid is working in isolation and re-inventing the wheel every time. Let¡¦s share what works well and get things happening. And let¡¦s celebrate what we achieve along the way.

Which brings me back to the reason we¡¦re all here today to celebrate this fantastic milestone. Well done Heinz Wattie's. Well done to the community of Hastings and well done once again to all those graduating.

To the learners out there my final message is a simple one - keep going, keep learning and may you enjoy every success in your career in the years to come.

No reira ¡V kia kaha, kai maia, kia ora koutou katoa

Therefore, be strong, be steadfast, be blessed ¡V all of you

Thank you very much.