Hon Steven Joyce
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills & Employment
14 November 2012 Media Statement


Minister to attend Melbourne SCOTESE meeting

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce will become the first New Zealand Minister to attend the Ministerial Standing Council on Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment (SCOTESE) meeting in Melbourne this week.

The purpose of the meeting is to engage with Australian Ministerial counterparts and will be an important precursor to New Zealand hosting the next meeting of Ministers in Auckland in June next year.

“This meeting will allow us to look for opportunities for joint work with Australia on tertiary and vocational education and will enable us to identify ideas to further improve New Zealand tertiary education,” Mr Joyce says.

“I will also be taking the opportunity to meet with large Australian employers and industry representatives, associated with the Standing Council, to discuss their current needs and priorities.”

“As Minister for Economic Development, I will be taking the opportunity to meet with several Australian businesses which invest in New Zealand, in support of the NZ Inc. Australia Strategy goals,” Mr Joyce says.

SCOTESE held its inaugural meeting in November 2011and was set up to ensure that Australia’s current and future workforce needs are met through increased participation, educational attainment, skills development and skills use to achieve greater productivity.

Mr Joyce will be in Australia from Thursday 15 November and will return on Friday 16 November.

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