3573 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister for Rural Communities

3573 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister for Rural Communities: Is the Minister concerned with the announcement from the Ministry for Primary Industries to cut 384 roles, if so, what actions, if any, is he proposing or willing to take to ensure these cuts do not have a negative impact on rural communities?

Hon Mark Patterson: MPI is not proposing any reductions to its frontline services and statutory staff, such as veterinarians, animal welfare, fishery and food compliance officers, and biosecurity teams at the border. The primary sector can have confidence that MPI’s key functions including biosecurity, food safety, forestry and fisheries will not be compromised by the proposed changes, and this will be a key consideration in final decisions.