Trade Training Target From the Minister of Maori Affairs The Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon. Matiu Rata, has set a new target of at least 1,000 trainees each year through the trade training schemes of the Maori and Island Affairs Department. This nearly doubles the number at present involved in the existing courses. In the past the plea has been for time for advancement. Now the drive is for expansion in new directions. ‘We need the co-operation and goodwill of all sectors—private, public, State and trade union,’ said Mr Rata. The greatly expanded programme is one of the measures designed to implement the Government's people-oriented policy in Maori Affairs. Mr. Rata has said that the two areas of greatest concern here are people and land. Legislation dealing with land is already under way and an expansion in the existing trade training scheme is a practical way of trackling the problem of giving more people greater opportunities. In an address to trade union representatives and Maori and Pacific Island organizations at Auckland, Mr Rata laid down the targets for the trade training schemes. They are: 1. The distribution of the Maori work force throughout the total occupational levels in the same proportions as the overall New Zealand work force. 2. The raising of the median income of Maori wage earners to that of the non-Maori. 3. The pursuance of policies which will result in making it possible for Maori wage earners to enter the work force later and retire earlier than is now the case. 4. The pursuance of policies which will make it possible for married women not to be forced into the work force because of necessity. 5. The opportunity for Maori workers in unskilled and semi-skilled occupations to be retrained for a higher occupation commensurate with job satisfaction. ‘The area of greatest concern is the 12 to 24 age group,’ said Mr Rata. ‘As far as the young are concerned it is not a happy situation when they are confronted with the real possibility of failure in education.’ Of 6139 Maori school leavers in 1972, 4582–74.6%—left with no qualifications. Nevertheless, without comparing the rate of success with that of other New Zealanders, the Maori pass rates in School Certificate, University Entrance and higher