Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Minister of Education): I'm pleased to report that the number of New Zealanders enrolling in apprenticeships has increased by approximately 85 percent and that the number of women signing up for apprentices has more than doubled. Since we made all apprenticeships free in July this year, there have been almost 14,000 new apprentices signing up nationwide, which is an increase from about 7,500 in the same period last year. In particular I want to acknowledge that we have had 1,785 women signing up for apprenticeships compared to 845 in the same period last year. It's good to see women signing up for these roles. We're making progress, but of course we still do have a way to go.