Labour wants to spend $21 million a year helping Māori get into trades

Labour has promised to spend NZ$21 million a year on trades training run by Māori, for Māori, if it wins the election. The money would go into a fund that Māori groups — including marae and iwi trusts — could apply to, to run training in their own communities. Labour announced the policy at its Māori campaign launch at Wainuiomata Marae in Lower Hutt on 29 August 2026. (RNZ)

Labour's Māori development spokesperson Willie Jackson said the training would teach practical skills and include mentoring to help people finish the course and stay in work. He said up to 3000 Māori could benefit.

The fund would cover a wide range of trades, from hairdressing to electrical work and plumbing, with no age limit. Labour's policy page says the goal is to help more whānau Māori gain skills and get into well-paid work. (Labour Party)

Jackson said Labour had run this programme when it was in government, but the current coalition government cut it back. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said 81 percent of people who finished the previous programme got jobs, and 76 percent completed their training. He said this would work alongside Labour's plan to extend Apprenticeship Boost, a payment that helps employers take on apprentices.

The background here is that those results are strong for trades training in Aotearoa, where getting large numbers of people through to completion and into work is difficult. Māori providers running training from marae have long said that teaching in a culturally grounded way works better for Māori learners, especially those who have dropped out of the formal education system. Labour is betting the programme's past results will help win back Māori voters.

Labour is framing this as bringing back something that worked, not trying something new. That lets Jackson argue the coalition government cut a successful programme, giving Labour a line of attack. Whether 3000 people can be reached for $21 million a year, and whether the fund will reach new providers or just go to the same ones, are questions Labour would need to answer with more detail if it gets into government.

The link to Apprenticeship Boost matters because the two policies tackle different sides of the same problem. Apprenticeship Boost helps employers afford to hire apprentices; the Māori-led fund helps Māori learners get into training in the first place. Together, they would build a bigger pipeline of skilled workers than either one alone.

Holding the launch at a marae signals Labour is making Māori development a visible part of its election pitch, alongside its wider plan for skills and jobs.