Labour Leader visits Canterbury to discuss kick-starting the rebuild

Labour Leader Phil Goff and Earthquake Recovery Spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove will meet with members of the construction industry in Christchurch and Kaiapoi tomorrow to discuss Labour's plan to kick-start the stalled rebuild.

"The building and construction industry has warned that there is a critical shortage of skilled workers in Canterbury. It's also concerned that the training process is too slow and may delay the rebuild even further," said Phil Goff.

"Labour is taking action to deal with that. We will work with the industry and training providers to ensure regulations and funding decisions are made to speed the training process up. We are also committing $87 million towards getting 9000 young New Zealanders off the dole and into apprenticeships. Canterbury will be the top priority in terms of allocating training positions.

"This policy has widespread support from employers, training providers and the construction industry. I will be meeting with industry leaders in Canterbury tomorrow to discuss the issue further."

© Scoop Media