June 18, 2019
Rail expansion chance to learn and earn
Reinvigorating the rail network will create large numbers of job opportunities for the next generation.
That's the view of Māori Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, who has been celebrating the reopening of the rail link from Napier to Wairoa.
He says the country needs options, like moving a lot of the heavy traffic off the roads and on to rail.
He says the opportunities are now there for Māori.
"Most of our Māori rangatahi, they suit a system where you learn as you earn. There will always be a minority who have the skill and the tenacity to go through university but for the bulk of our people, Māori apprentices, vocational guidance and the NEETs, the preference I would like to see for them is learning as they earn or earn as they learn and Kiwirail will be a great training ground for them," Mr Jones says.
New Zealand First would like to see the work of maintaining and even building the rolling stock come back to New Zealand.
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