82387 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister of Agriculture

82387 (2024). Hon Jo Luxton to the Minister of Agriculture: What reassurance, if any, can the Minister provide to the public that financial measures such as the Rapid Savings Exercise and the Budget 2024 savings will not compromise the quality of essential services, particularly in biosecurity and food safety?

Hon Todd McClay: As part of Budget 2024, MPI was asked by the Government to find annual baseline savings of 7.5 percent from the start of the 2024/25 financial year. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) did not make any reductions to frontline services or statutory roles, such as veterinarians, animal welfare, forestry managers, fishery and food compliance officers, or biosecurity teams at the border; and there are no risks to the performance of MPI functions as a result of the Government’s directive to reduce expenditure in the public service.