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Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Cost of polytech changes revealed
By John Gerritsen of RNZ A Cabinet paper reveals re-establishing independent polytechnics will cost more than 500 courses and about 1000 jobs. The March paper from Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds said polytechnics had started to act on financial improvement plans that would ensure they were viable when they were cut free from super-institute Te Pūkenga. "Polytechnics have begun implementing their financial improvement plans, which as of late 2024 indicated reductions of approximately 550 programmes, up to 900 FTE and approximately 30 delivery sites," it said. "The final model for work-based learning will also change the spread of training provision between polytechnics, wānanga and private providers. It would be premature to commit to long-term plans to support important provision when there is potential for delivery to look very different once these processes are completed." The paper said the government would set aside $20 million to ensure the retention of strategically important, but potentially unviable courses. "I intend to review support for strategically important provision in the second half of 2026, including long-term options to support the organisations that provide it and how to incentivise delivery of the provision that regions need, through either polytechnics, Wānanga, or private providers who may be able to fill gaps," the paper said. It also said using $6.5m from a special funding category aimed at supporting Māori and Pacific students to boost government subsidies for polytech courses generally could have a negative effect. "Tertiary education organisations may see the removal of the Māori and Pacific learner criteria from the Learner Component as a signal that programmes tailored to support these learners are no longer needed and can be substituted with more generic student support programmes. This may negatively impact on Māori and Pacific learner outcomes." Tertiary Education Union national secretary Sandra Grey told RNZ's Nine to Noon programme today it was the first time the full scale of the cuts had been revealed. "This is the first time we've seen it in black and white. We've been feeling it every week as each institution tries to right-size so that it can cope with the minister's vision for them. "To see 500 jobs going in black and white is really hard for the sector." Grey said the changes would remove vocational education and training from some communities altogether. The government recently announced nine of the 16 polytechnics that joined Te Pūkenga would emerge as stand-alone institutes next year. Three of the remaining institutes would join a federation, with the fate of four others yet to be decided. Simmonds said in a statement: "The Cabinet paper confirms the scale of change required to re-establish a financially viable and regionally responsive vocational education network. The paper you are referring to is an early piece of advice and there were several updates made." The government had asked the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) work with Te Pūkenga to assist all polytechnics to review their operations, "an exercise that should have happened five years ago when Te Pūkenga was set up, to ensure the viability of the polytechnic sector", she said. "As the minister, I am not privy to information regarding the operational decisions that polytechnics might contemplate. However, I would suggest that it is important for all polytechnics to be taking appropriate actions to ensure their overall viability and maintain their relationships. "We are absolutely committed to maintaining and improving access to vocational education across the regions. $20m has been secured from TEC to support provision in strategic regions and strategic delivery. "Our goal is to give each polytechnic the autonomy to tailor provision to the needs of their region - something the old centralised model simply didn't allow."
Otago Daily Times
23-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals boom
By Susan Edmunds of RNZ and Nine to Noon More than 50,000 people made withdrawals from their KiwiSaver accounts on the basis of hardship in the year to June - compared to about 18,000 five years ago. KiwiSaver provider Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the increase started in 2023 and the reasons were easy to understand - the recession and cost-of-living crisis were putting ongoing pressure on people's budgets. "But some context - the number of hardship withdrawals were 1.6 percent members, and 0.3 percent of savings. The hardship, as is true for the wider society, is concentrated pain among a few." Sorted's personal finance lead Tom Hartmann told RNZ's Nine to Noon programme today it was likely the ability to withdraw from KiwiSaver was giving people "peace of mind" that if their situation worsened they could draw on their savings. The average withdrawal was $8800, he said. For someone in their 30s earning $75,000 a year, a withdrawal of that size in a year could reduce their not-inflation-adjusted final balance by about $40,000. Hartmann said there had not been an increase in savings suspensions, which indicated that the withdrawal was a temporary stop gap for people who would get back to making contributions. People can opt to stop contributing to KiwiSaver for a year at a time, and can renew the suspension at the end of the 12 months. The number of people on a savings suspension had dropped from 89,000 a year ago to 85,000. Hartmann said the key thing for people considering a withdrawal was to make it a last resort. "Typically, there are other sources of support that need to be explored first." Financial helpline MoneyTalks was one option, he said. "The team there have reporting seeing an increase in even middle-income people exploring their options." Eaqub said for people making a withdrawal, it was often a choice between "certain hardship today versus more savings later in life". But he said the situation was worse for those without KiwiSaver. "Many low-income people do not contribute to KiwiSaver because the employee contribution lowers their take home pay. "But they also miss out on the employer contribution and government subsidies. It means when non-contributors face hardship, they do not have this fallback." But Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura KiwiSaver, said people on lower incomes could build up good balances. "Someone earning $60,000 contributing 3 percent will end be putting in [about] $3500 per year, so over 10 years plus returns that really adds up. "You can easily see a $60,000 salary becoming a $45,000 balance over 10 years. That is the power of KiwiSaver, we are often encouraging people to save that would not otherwise do it."
Scoop
21-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Sounds Air Cut Flying Routes As Costs Surge
Sounds Air is cutting two regional services, saying it's facing 'out of control' costs despite strong bookings. The airline will no longer fly Blenheim to Christchurch or Christchurch to Wānaka from the end of September. That was after cancelling its services from Wellington to Taupo and Wellington to Westport last December and selling an aircraft. Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford told Nine to Noon aviation has been severely hit by escalating costs, supply chain challenges and a weak New Zealand dollar that was threatening the viability of all regional airlines. "In the last three months, we've had another half a million dollars of annual costs imposed on the business and at some point, you've just got to say 'no more. We just can't do it'," he said. Instead, the business will focus on its core regional services, selling its fleet of five Pilatus aircraft and expanding its Cessna Caravan fleet that operates in and around the Cook Strait. The decision will cost 10 staff their jobs across the Wānaka and Christchurch bases. Crawford said they were flying more passengers than ever but the costs were so high, engineers were difficult to find and keep, and they had exhausted all other options to make the business viable. Pre Covid, one of the avionic parts needed cost $28,000, but now the business was paying $70,000 for the same part. "How many seats do you have to sell on a nine seat aircraft to make that work? It's impossible." He acknowledged that people were already paying more for flights, saying fares had gone up more than 20 percent since Covid and they could go up another 20 percent and it still would not be enough. Another cost was the recent hike of the passenger service levy from the Civil Aviation Authority, which he said would cost the business close to $300,000 a year. "Where are we supposed to get that from? We've just got to pull that on the travelling public." They had reached out to the government numerous times to no avail, being told the business did not meet the criteria for the regional infrastructure fund months after being told to apply for it, he said. He was worried about the many regional people who used the flights to access healthcare and what they would do, Crawford said The change was a relief in some ways as the pressure on the business, staff and shareholders was extreme, he said. He was confident about the future of the business with its renewed focus on the Cook Strait, saying it was much more sustainable. "The numbers we're seeing are just astronomical. We used to do four flights a day in and out of Nelson, I think on Friday, we did 12. The demand is there, people are flying and these are cheaper aircraft to maintain."
Otago Daily Times
21-07-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Airline cuts back Chch routes as costs surge
Sounds Air is cutting two regional services, saying it's facing 'out of control' costs despite strong bookings. The airline will no longer fly Blenheim to Christchurch or Christchurch to Wānaka from the end of September. That was after cancelling its services from Wellington to Taupo and Wellington to Westport last December and selling an aircraft. Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford told Nine to Noon aviation has been severely hit by escalating costs, supply chain challenges and a weak New Zealand dollar that was threatening the viability of all regional airlines. "In the last three months, we've had another half a million dollars of annual costs imposed on the business and at some point, you've just got to say 'no more. We just can't do it'," he said. Instead, the business will focus on its core regional services, selling its fleet of five Pilatus aircraft and expanding its Cessna Caravan fleet that operates in and around the Cook Strait. The decision will cost 10 staff their jobs across the Wānaka and Christchurch bases. Crawford said they were flying more passengers than ever but the costs were so high, engineers were difficult to find and keep, and they had exhausted all other options to make the business viable. Pre Covid, one of the avionic parts needed cost $28,000, but now the business was paying $70,000 for the same part. "How many seats do you have to sell on a nine seat aircraft to make that work? It's impossible." He acknowledged that people were already paying more for flights, saying fares had gone up more than 20 percent since Covid and they could go up another 20 percent and it still would not be enough. Another cost was the recent hike of the passenger service levy from the Civil Aviation Authority, which he said would cost the business close to $300,000 a year. "Where are we supposed to get that from? We've just got to pull that on the travelling public." They had reached out to the government numerous times to no avail, being told the business did not meet the criteria for the regional infrastructure fund months after being told to apply for it, he said. He was worried about the many regional people who used the flights to access healthcare and what they would do, Crawford said The change was a relief in some ways as the pressure on the business, staff and shareholders was extreme, he said. He was confident about the future of the business with its renewed focus on the Cook Strait, saying it was much more sustainable. "The numbers we're seeing are just astronomical. We used to do four flights a day in and out of Nelson, I think on Friday, we did 12. The demand is there, people are flying and these are cheaper aircraft to maintain."
Scoop
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Children's Theatre Pioneer Tim Bray Has Died
Article – RNZ Tim Bray, who lifted children's and youth theatre to new heights in New Zealand, died on Saturday. He was 61. Bray founded the Tim Bray Theatre Company to produce high-quality kids theatre more than 33 years ago, staging original works and productions based on well-known children's books. That successful run of shows came to an end late last year following Bray's announcement of a diagnosis for a rare soft tissue cancer. He told RNZ's Nine to Noon in December that treatment for cancer, along with scraping together the annual budget of $1 million to continue producing theatre, was no longer possible. The annual Christmas production of the Santa Claus Show in December was the company's final curtain when he was unable to find someone to take over his work. Related stories: Bray showed an interest in the performing arts when he saw travelling theatre companies perform at his school. His parents enrolled him in drama classes at age 13. Bray first had the idea to start a company dedicated to children's theatre when the Auckland Youth Theatre, where Bray worked at the time, shut down. He described theatre for kids and young people as being 'incredibly in my bones…' Bray's mission was always to provide quality theatre to every child. In 2004, the theatre company was well ahead of others when it began providing sign language interpreters at shows. The theatre company went on to provide sensory relaxed performances for children put off by loud noises and other over-stimulating elements. Audio-described performances for blind children were another addition. The Tim Bray Theatre Company delivered more than 100 productions to hundreds of thousands of children. They toured New Zealand and performed for King Charles and Queen Camilla when they were prince and duchess. Bray was awarded a Queen's Service Medal in 2017. 'Tim Bray's work has been instrumental in shaping children's theatre in Aotearoa New Zealand over more than three decades,' said Peter Winder, chair of Tim Bray Theatre Company. 'We extend our heartfelt condolences to Tim's family, friends, and all who were touched by his remarkable work.'
