THESIS: Treatment of environmental ...

Treatment of environmental considerations within New Zealand’s biosecurity framework

May 2024

Cartwright L. 2024. Treatment of environmental considerations within New Zealand’s biosecurity framework. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Laws, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. 114 p.

ABSTRACT

Environmental considerations should be given equitable weight within the decision-making processes of New Zealand’s biosecurity framework. This is especially important in a time when environmental concerns increase day by day on a global scale. This thesis seeks to analyse the current biosecurity framework to determine how environmental considerations are treated throughout its legal foundation and organisational structure. There is very little existing literature that assesses the framework in any way. The thesis analyses the core legislation and agreements of the framework, determining whether they are fit for purpose or whether their function is unreasonably favourable towards economic interests. The function of the decision-makers is also critically assessed to establish whether any economic preference exists at a systemic level. Interviews and a wide range of online sources were used to gain a wider perspective of the issue, and these were supplemented with biosecurity-related books and journal articles. The research found that the way the organisational structure was initially set up, and how it exists today, contributes to significant economic prioritisation at the expense of ecological considerations. This ingrained economic preference was not the only issue, as the research also found that sufficient environmental risk assessment tools did not exist, failing to enable ecological concerns to be recognised at the same level as economic stakes during risk assessment. These two issues together provide conclusive evidence that ecological considerations are not given equitable weight during instances of biosecurity decision-making, and more work is needed to rectify the economic prioritisation that is currently present within the framework.