The Labour Party has announced a plan for a small number of young New Zealanders to get a one-off cash grant of up to $20,000 to start a new business.
The Young Entrepreneurs Plan would allow a maximum of 100 18-to-23-year-olds to apply to cash-in their three free years of education, and instead receive a start-up business grant, training and a business mentor.
Three years of free education is a Labour Party policy that was announced earlier this year.
Labour leader Andrew Little said the policy recognised that not everybody thrived in formal education and some of New Zealand's best-known entrepreneurs learnt everything they know on the job.
"This is about addressing a need that the Future Work Commission has identified, which is in 20 years time, we expect a lot more to be running their own little businesses, whether they are kind of just part of their income, or the basis on which they do their work. And we have to be nurturing that entrepreneurial spirit now."
