Source: New Zealand Government

Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai tatou. 

Thank you for the warm welcome, and thank you to the University of Canterbury for hosting us. It is a real pleasure to be here with colleagues from across New Zealand, Australia, and further afield.

The theme of this event – Global Impact and Student Success – could not be more fitting. These are exactly the ambitions that drive this Government’s approach to our universities.

Universities matter enormously to New Zealand. They educate the next generation of leaders, they advance the frontiers of knowledge, and they play an important role in powering our economy. In fact, they sit within our Going for Growth agenda – an agenda to lift New Zealand’s economic performance and create greater opportunities for every New Zealander.

But let me be direct: we need our universities to do better at aligning the skills students gain with the needs of employers and industry. We need stronger and faster pathways from research into real-world impact. And we need institutions that can adapt quickly to new opportunities in areas like advanced technologies.

Today, I want to set out the government’s priorities for change. These priorities are about modernising our system, ensuring universities are well led, and ensuring the significant taxpayer investment in them delivers the best possible outcomes – for students, for industry, and for New Zealand.

The first step is a new Tertiary Education Strategy, being developed by myself and my colleague, Minister Simmonds, for both the university and vocational education sectors. 

The strategy will have five clear priorities:

1. Lifting student achievement.
2. Maximising economic impact and innovation.
3. Increasing access and participation for people from all backgrounds and regions.
4. Building stronger integration between universities, communities, and industries.
5. Boosting the international education sector and strengthening New Zealand’s global connections.

This strategy will shape the Tertiary Education Commission’s investments. We’ll be consulting on it over the coming weeks, with the aim of publishing it in November.

Second, we are establishing a new University Strategy Group, which I will chair.

This will bring together university leaders, independent experts, and senior officials to tackle challenges that affect the system as a whole – challenges no single university can solve on its own.

Its purpose is simple: to make sure our universities work together more effectively, and to strengthen the alignment between universities, government, and industry. The group will begin its work in the next two months and run for an initial period of 18 months.

Third, we are replacing the Performance-Based Research Fund with a new Tertiary Research Excellence Fund.

The Performance-Based Research Fund was world-leading when it was created, but its processes have become too time-consuming and costly. It is time for a simpler, smarter approach.

The new fund will focus on metrics that reflect real outcomes – centred on citations, but also including measures that recognise diversity of research, collaboration with industry, and commercialisation.

It will continue to support postgraduate teaching and encourage external research income, especially where it serves the needs of industry and communities.

We will begin a phased transition in 2027, with the new fund fully in place from 2028.

Fourth, we are reviewing and strengthening our quality assurance system.

We need to protect the world-class reputation of our universities, but also make sure the system is flexible enough to respond to the changing needs of students, industries, and communities.

Finally, we will also take steps to improve governance – to strengthen decision-making, accountability, and transparency. Universities must remain independent, but with independence comes responsibility: responsibility to students, to taxpayers, and to the country.

These university reforms are closely connected to our wider science reforms.

We are bringing together New Zealand’s publicly funded science organisations to work more strategically – focusing effort on science that delivers real impact for New Zealanders and for our economy.

Just as we are asking universities to collaborate more effectively, so too are we reshaping the science system to break down silos, encourage partnerships, and support research that makes a real difference in people’s lives.

Universities will be central to this. By aligning education, research, and science investment, we can create a more joined-up system – one that produces skilled graduates, world-class research, and innovations that drive growth.

These reforms set a clear direction.

We will simplify systems, strengthen leadership, and sharpen the focus on outcomes that matter.

I encourage you to build on your strengths, work together, and focus your research on solving problems that matter to New Zealanders.

Our universities already rank among the top three per cent worldwide. With the right priorities and partnerships, they can be at the forefront of global innovation and impact.

This is a time of challenge, but also of extraordinary opportunity. Together, we can ensure our universities deliver for students, for industry, and for the nation’s future.

Nō reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tātou katoa.

MIL OSI