AUCKLAND – New Zealand construction firms have been urged to provide jobs and internships for young Maori and Pasifika people.

Employers gathered in Auckland last week to hear about a trades training programme aimed at plugging a predicted labour shortage in the construction and infrastructure sectors.

It is estimated 32,000 jobs will be generated in the next three to five years in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Government is spending $43 million over four years to expand Maori and Pasifika trades training and apprenticeships.

Twelve trades training programmes are currently being funded around the country.

A programme leader, Sam Sefuiva, said the initiative has multiple returns for local businesses but more importantly, it opens the door for young Maori and Pasifika people to contribute to New Zealand’s economy.

“It’s a gateway in for many of our young Maori and Pacific people in terms of jobs and also the encouragement for them to get skills and into apprenticeships,” Sefuiva said.

Auckland’s Mayor Len Brown said the initiative will help address the high youth unemployment rates amongst Maori and Pasifika young people.

“There are a lot of jobs coming through in the market place and we’re hearing from the employers that they’ve got jobs coming out of their ears.

“But we also know we’ve got a disconnection from some of our youth who are coming through school and then are just dropping out. And we just can’t have that, it’s no good for them and it’s no good for us.”

Twenty-year-old Sarah Peraua, a solo mother and scholarship student studying carpentry, said the training programme is the chance she needs to get a qualification.

“Financially, I don’t get much money a week and to know that my fees have been paid for is just really good. It gives me that extra push to actually finish my course this year.”

Len Brown says such testimonies are driving the initiative.

“This is what we all do it for. To know that we’ve been a part of giving someone’s life direction, giving them an opportunity and providing them with hope.”

Nancy McConnell from Hawkins Construction says the firm has employed many young workers through the trades training initiative over the last four years.

“As an employer, we are seeing the fruits now of the Maori and Pasifika trades training initiatives. So it’s fantastic to be able to see those young ones coming through. It’s great.”

In recent weeks Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilapea Sailele Malielegaoi has called on New Zealand unions to consider expanding the RSE scheme to areas such as construction and fisheries.

New Zealand’s Pacific Economics Ambassador, Shane Jones, said New Zealand can benefit from skilled workers coming to New Zealand from around the Pacific region.

“There’s about a 9000 cap at the moment in the RSE but there is scope in the fishing industry to marry the needs of the deep sea industry with the talent available in the Pacific.”

Jones says a pilot fisheries training programme in Kiribati, funded by the New Zealand government, will allow some of its graduates to work in New Zealand.

He says regional leaders are keen to see similar programmes in other parts of the Pacific.