Hon Jim Anderton

Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity
Minister of Fisheries, Minister of Forestry
Associate Minister of Health
Associate Minister for Tertiary Education

Progressive Leader

6 September 2007 Media Statement

New hub the smart way to tackle biosecurity border threats

Biosecurity Minister Jim Anderton said today that the best way for New Zealand to tackle biosecurity threats was to bring together everyone involved in defending the border.

Speaking at the opening of the new Auckland Biosecurity Centre at Auckland airport, he said: “It's better to be smart in how we respond − this will be a hub of biosecurity border operations.”

Jim Anderton said that there will always be new threats and new incursions. “There will never be a time when we can promise one hundred percent secure defences against biosecurity incursions − any more than the police can ever promise to make New Zealand free from crime.

“And the opportunities for incursions are growing because our economy is growing. We import 75 percent more sea containers. More than four million passengers and crew fly to New Zealand each year − a third more than in 2000. So we have to be smart in how we deal with our biosecurity.

“This government is committed to New Zealand's biosecurity. We spend around $77 million at the border keeping pests out, more than twenty million dollars a year on surveillance and incursion responses, and another four million dollars on biosecurity enforcement.

“In the Budget this year the government increased biosecurity funding even further. We put another $39 million into the effectiveness of managing our border. Our biosecurity is crucial to New Zealand,” Jim Anderton said.

He concluded by noting that the job of being vigilant at the border is not only a job for government agencies. “Every New Zealander has a stake and a role in protecting our border. From river users on the lookout for didymo, to commercial freight companies, to every single New Zealander, because all of us have a stake in New Zealand’s biosecurity.

“This centre symbolises the government's commitment to a professional and productive partnership. “

ENDS

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