Labour pledges $21m for Māori-led trades training

<p>Labour is pledging to spend $21 million a year on Māori-led trades training if elected into government.</p> <p>The party says it would establish a contestable, grant-based fund for Māori providers, including marae and iwi trusts, to deliver training.</p> <p>The announcement was made today at the party's Māori campaign launch at Wainuiomata Marae in Lower Hutt.</p> <p>Labour's Māori development spokesperson Willie Jackson said he expected up to 3000 Māori would benefit from the plan.</p> <p>The programme would include a wide variety of trades, he said, from hairdressing to electrical trades and plumbing, and it did not have an age limit.</p> <p>He said while young people would benefit, it would also be for older people who hadn't had their chance.</p> <p>Jackson said Labour had run the programme in government, but it had been cut back under the current coalition government.</p> <p>"We don't understand why you would shut something down that has been…