The public is being warned the cost of hiring an electrician will skyrocket if the Government pushes ahead with its plan to restructure vocational training.
The fears come as the Government's merging the country's struggling Polytechs into a single body.
It will take over the management of trade apprenticeships from industry training organisations, like master electricians.
"There are some parts of the sector that are under-performing so we're happy to help try to fix them - but to throw out all industry training and give all the funding to the entity that's under-performing we just think that's a recipe for disaster," Master Electricians CEO Bernie McLaughlin says.
The industry's predicting the cost of hiring an electrician may jump by 65 per cent.
However, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says it's nothing but scaremongering.
"What we're seeing from industry training organisations is a lot of scaremongering and a lot of making things up.
"The system that we have at the moment has failed to deliver enough tradespeople to meet New Zealand's needs," Mr Hipkins told 1 NEWS.
National is urging the Government to slow down and think again.
"Polytechs have struggled in our hands, they do need some attention and we're happy to collaborate on that but throwing apprenticeships at Polytechs is not the solution," National MP Shane Reti said.
Consultation on the proposal closes this Friday.
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