Southland voices on reform

Invercargill Labour list MP Liz Craig will meet local mayors Sir Tim Shadbolt, Gary Tong and Tracy Hicks with Penny Simmonds at the Southern Institute of Technology today to discuss reforms.

Mayor Shadbolt said he would use any opportunity to fight plans to merge 16 polytechnics into one tertiary institution.

Last week, when at the Kiwi-Indian Hall of Fame Awards in Auckland, he spoke to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

''We were greeting and she said to me: 'I would want to continue this talk but without 600 people listening to us'.''

Ms Craig said she had spoken to Education Minister Hipkins about the possibility of a delegation from Southland visiting Wellington to discuss the reforms.

luisa.girao@odt.co.nz