Roger Smith, the head of Biosecurity New Zealand, ordered a survey to poll the sentiments of NZ citizens. The survey shows that the vast majority of Kiwis don't think the issue affects them. But Smith is adamant that the only way to protect New Zealand from future biosecurity threats is for people to realise they have skin in the game.
“The lack of understanding of biosecurity and its importance is a major obstacle,” Smith said in an interview at Wellington’s Ministry for Primary Industries.
According to Smith, a recent opinion poll carried out for Biosecurity New Zealand that will likely be released Wednesday shows that while people may be aware of biosecurity “only 2 percent think it has a personal impact” on their lives. And that 2 percent is across the board, so including farmers, he said. “That means 98 percent of people aren’t going to take any action on biosecurity because they don’t think it has a personal impact.” Smith argues it does.
“What you eat, where you camp, where you walk, how you enjoy New Zealand, where you kayak, what you do in your garden are all possible because of a good biosecurity system and therefore you have skin the game,” he said.
The only way to protect the country is for people to take responsibility, he said. Biosecurity New Zealand is about to launch a major campaign geared toward “getting people to buy in and be part of the system,” he said.
It's teaming up with Australia to develop new technology such as three-dimensional x-ray machines that can pre-screen baggage and find elusive things such as seeds as well as online gaming geared toward biosecurity.
It’s beefing up its laboratory facilities with a new state-of-the art high-security lab that will come on-stream next year.
It’s also looking at more policing given the increasing numbers of non-compliance.
“New Zealand has been an environment where you trust people but there are more people who are breaching that trust and therefore we need to boost our ability to deal with that,” he said.
Source:
pro.newsroom.co.nz