Labour pledges to restore two‑year apprenticeship boost and widen eligibility
Sunday, 28 June 2026
Labour will campaign on restoring its Apprenticeship Boost scheme to two years of funding and expanding the range of professions eligible for support.
The scheme, first introduced under the Ardern-Hipkins Government in August 2020, gives employers $500 a month for having an apprentice in their first year.
Under Labour that funding was provided for an apprentice’s first two years in work, but the coalition halved it to one.
Labour announced on Sunday at its congress, held at Wellington’s Tākina Convention Centre, it would reverse that change and expand the trades that qualify for it to include road construction, water treatment, hairdressers, sales and sport and recreation.
The scheme currently covers a range of industries including building, agriculture, manufacturing, engineering and food and hospitality.
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The new policy would also allow apprentices to apply for a $1000 grant to help cover the costs of tools and kit and $2 million for industry skills boards and providers to pilot additional support and mentoring.
Labour’s focus on apprenticeships follows the coalition Government abolishing the fees free policy in Budget 2026, saving $1 billion over four years. Finance Minister Nicola Willis said that money would be put into delivering front-line public services, including to better prepare young people for trades and other vocational education.
Labour priced today’s policy at an average additional cost of $56.5 million a year, saying it would be funded through future operating allowances. It would expand the eligibility and pilot the mentoring scheme from July 1, 2027.
The extension of the scheme to two years of support would come into effect a year later on July 1, 2028.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said too many young New Zealanders were struggling to find good jobs while the country faced growing skills shortages.
“When Labour introduced Apprenticeship Boost in 2020, it helped tens of thousands of apprentices get the training they needed for secure, well-paid careers. National cut that support to help fund tax breaks to tobacco companies and property speculators.”
Hipkins said Labour was committed to helping New Zealanders find good jobs and build the future workforce. “That’s exactly what this policy delivers.”
It was the latest policy in a rolling maul of election promises since the Budget that was started by its public transport fare cap, followed by free maternity scans and bringing back free prescriptions.
In a post-announcement press conference, Hipkins said Labour would expand it to two years because people often faced a hurdle of getting people through those years of an apprenticeship.
“I think it's something up to a third of apprentices drop out between the first and second years, so providing that extra support so that we get them through the first two years means that they're more likely to complete their apprenticeships.”
The party leader was asked given they had brought back much of the original apprenticeship scheme under the last Labour government whether they’d bring back fees free, and would not say whether it was off the table.
“This is our policy on apprenticeships. We've got plenty more work underway around tertiary education. There'll be more policy in the tertiary education area.”
National says Labour has failed to explain how it will pay for the policy
National Party campaign chair Simeon Brown said Labour had failed to explain how it would pay for the policy.
“Labour’s approach is more spending, more handouts, and more short-term fixes, without addressing the underlying causes of the cost-of-living pressures facing Kiwi families.”
Brown claimed the policy added to an $18 billion funding hole in Labour’s plans that National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis highlighted in a press conference two weeks ago.
“National has a long-term plan to build New Zealand’s future. Labour can’t even explain how they’ll pay for theirs.”
At an extra $56.5m a year, Labour’s policy would add approximately 0.28% to the expenditure for education and training in the 2028/29 financial year according to Willis’ 2026 Budget revealed in May.