Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is expected to announce the date of the Tāmaki Makaurau byelection at this afternoon’s post-Cabinet press conference.

A byelection is being held in the Auckland Māori seat after the death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp, who had been battling kidney disease.

It appears it will be a two-horse race between well-known broadcaster Oriini Kaipara for Te Pāti Māori and Labour’s Peeni Henare, who held the seat for nine years until the 2023 when Kemp won the seat by a slim 42 votes.

Voting during byelections is open for about two weeks for people already enrolled in the electorate.

Labour MPs, from left, Arena Williams, Carmel Sepuloni, Peeni Henare and Willie Jackson pay tribute to Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Herald understands this afternoon’s post-Cabinet press conference, held at 4pm, will also likely involve tertiary education, a portfolio led by National Minister Penny Simmonds.

Simmonds has been overseeing the dismantling of Te Pūkenga, a mega-merger of the country’s polytechnics and training organisations.

The Vocational Education minister has previously described the polytech cluster as an “abject disaster” and a “financial mess” drowning in hundreds of millions of dollars of debt.

Te Pūkenga was established in April 2020 under the previous Labour Government and merged 25 polytechnics and industry training organisations into one national network.

Last week, RNZ reported warnings from Te Pūkenga’s managers that the Government will still need to bail out the struggling polytechnics despite the reforms.

The mega-merger’s chief financial officer James Smith told a Parliamentary select committee the changes being made would leave behind a “simplistic, inefficient volumetric system” with no ability to adjust price based on scale.

Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmonds. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“We also expect because of this that the government will be relied upon for further ad hoc financial support for ITPs (Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics) in the future,” he said.

Recently, the Universal College of Learning (Ucol) revealed plans to cut staff numbers and courses to save $7.1 million to be financially viable as a standalone institution. The disestablishment of Te Pūkenga means polytechnics, including Ucol, will now act as “standalones”.

This morning, the Government also announced plans to double the international student sector to $7.2 billion by 2034. Under the new “International Education Going for Growth Plan” eligible student visa holders in New Zealand will now be able to work 25 hours per week, up from the current 20.

It also wants to grow student enrolments from 83,700 in 2024 to 105,000 in 2027 and 119,000 by 2034 and increase the proportion of prospective students rating New Zealand among their top three choices from 18% in 2024 to 20% in 2027 and 22% in 2034.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.