28 Jul 2022

Hipkins wants Te Pūkenga deficits down

From Morning Report, 8:15 am on 28 July 2022

The Education Minister wants the new mega-polytech to make more progress reducing deficits and getting its operating plan in place, as the 1 January deadline bears down fast.

Te Pūkenga - or the New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology - has been hitting the headlines for its projected deficit, its chief executive on unexplained leave and for failures in its dealings with staff.

The National Party says the government should scrap the whole thing and concentrate on the individual polytechs that are really struggling.

Chris Hipkins says major reform is needed to make the sector sustainable, but he's not happy with the progress so far.

Here's political editor Jane Patterson.