Hon Dr MEGAN WOODS (Minister of Housing): The Government is committed to addressing New Zealand's housing crisis by increasing the supply of houses across the country, including our own booming Government-led build programme. Recently, I announced that over 500 apprentices and cadets have been placed in work across the country through Government house-building projects. This represents hundreds more builders, carpenters, electricians, painters, drainlayers, and scaffolders who are part of building, upgrading, and maintaining the nearly 70,000 public houses across New Zealand. Our investment in apprenticeships is about creating jobs and opportunities for young people, stimulating local economies, and creating an ongoing pipeline of work that is building more houses than any Government since the 1970s. 