PQ 10. Primary Sector Development—Initiatives Targeting Young People [Sitting date: 04 December 2014. Volume:702;Page:11. Text is subject to correction.]

10. DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) to the Minister for Primary Industries : What reports has he received on initiatives to help attract young people into the primary sector?

Hon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): Last week I visited St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton to turn the first sod on its new centre of excellence for agriculture, science, and business projects. St Paul’s is working closely with industry and the Ministry of Education to develop a template for a new agribusiness programme. Students who choose the agribusiness programme will be able to use this fantastic new facility in 2015. This is a great initiative, which shows what can be achieved when schools, industry, and the Government work closely together.

David Bennett : What initiatives does the Government have under way that will help attract new talent into the primary sector?

Hon NATHAN GUY : We know that we will need around 50,000 extra workers by 2025, and a big part of that is attracting them into the primary sector because of the importance of the New Zealand economy. Also, we need to make sure that we are doing our utmost—working in our schools—to ensure that we are attracting the youngest and brightest into the primary sector. We have a lot of work happening across Government already. One of the examples that I can share with the House is the Enterprising Primary Industries Career Challenge for year 10 students to get involved in, to try and attract their peers into the primary sector. The Government cannot do it on its own, and nor should we. We can do more achieving this together and I congratulate St Paul’s on its investment and decision.

ENDS

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