Hon David Carter

Minister for Primary Industries
7 December 2012 Media Statement
Minister welcomes new frontline border staff

Primary Industries Minister David Carter is welcoming a boost to New Zealand’s biosecurity frontline with the graduation today of 46 new recruits.

With training completed of the largest intake of border staff in over a decade, the Ministry for Primary Industries is issuing warrants to 43 new quarantine inspectors and three new detector dog handlers at a ceremony in Auckland.

“As the Government had planned, these new border staff will bring MPI’s biosecurity frontline up to full strength and will help meet the demands of the summer peak season,” says Mr Carter.

“The quarantine inspectors and dog handlers are now ready to protect our primary industries and the Kiwi way of life by keeping unwanted pests and diseases out of the country.”

The majority of the quarantine inspectors will be based in Auckland, and five will go to Wellington. The three new dog handlers will go to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Four existing warranted quarantine inspectors who have trained as dog handlers are also graduating today. They will work with the 11 detector dogs that went through MPI’s training centre earlier this year.

“Detector dogs and their handlers are an important part of our biosecurity frontline. The dogs’ presence at the airport is a major factor, they are excellent at detecting seeds and plants that x-rays may miss, and they screen people faster than x-rays,” Mr Carter says.
ENDS

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Scoop Business: Bathurst Gets Nod For DoC Access To Denniston Mine

Conservation Minister Nick Smith has approved access over conservation estate land for Bathurst Resources to develop an open cast coal mine on the Denniston Plateau, above Westport, to the dismay of environmental opponents.

The timing for Smith’s move avoids Bathurst having to resubmit applications for access agreements under the revised Crown Minerals Act, which comes into force tomorrow and would have required public consultation.

The announcement lands in the middle of delicate negotiations between the company, environmental groups and other interested parties that could pave the way to a broader agreement on the Escarpment proposal, whose resource consents are still subject to court appeals. More>>