3575 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister for Biosecurity

3575 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister for Biosecurity: 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 the Biosecurity unit?

Hon Andrew Hoggard: 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.