Primary Matters

Primary Matters

By Ministry for Primary IndustriesBusinessScienceCareers
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Primary Matters episodes

  • You Do What?! - No Way Out

    The National Animal Health Laboratory is New Zealand’s most sophisticated building. It’s here that animal diseases are identified and has been designed so nothing can leak out, even in the event of a one-in-500-year earthquake. To make sure dangerous organisms don't hitch a ride out with staff, glasses and hearing aids must be left outside the highest security lab, and second sets are provided for inside. Strict protocols govern whether tradies can take their tools home at the end of the day.


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    15 min
  • You do what?! - Not to be sniffed at
    At MPI’s detector dog centre in Auckland tiny pups can be found tumbling over each other playing to the sound of rumbling explosions and whooshing fireworks. In this podcast we meet an MPI dog care specialist who works with the pups to prepare them for work in busy, noisy environments. The pups will go on to run their noses over parcels at the International Mail Centre and bags in airports, to sniff out anything that could harm New Zealand’s primary industries.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    13 min
  • You do what?! - Don't bug us!
    The brown marmorated stink bug is on New Zealand’s ‘most wanted’ list. It could do huge damage to our export crops and make them unmarketable. Many feared it would have established in Aoteoroa by now, but thanks to controls at the border and offshore, we’ve managed to keep it at bay.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min
  • You do what?! - No shore excursions for pests
    MPI sends quarantine officers in to examine the buffet of every cruise ship that berths in New Zealand. They’re not assessing the quality of the food but check whole fruit isn’t on display in case visitors are tempted to slip some into their pockets and bring it ashore. The quarantine officers also have a list of other checks to make to ensure any unwanted pests and diseases don’t get the chance to disembark.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    11 min
  • You do what?! - Where's Wally?
    Tim Day spends his work days clambering though gorse and blackberry looking for signs of wallabies. It’s estimated there are more than a million wallabies in New Zealand quietly mowing down any new growth and causing huge damage to our forests. Tim’s part of a the effort to ensure Aotearoa becomes wallaby free.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    16 min
  • You do what?! - Not easily rattled
    When a snake’s found curled up in a container of imported washing machines, who are you going to call? Zoran Sinovcic is a trained Ministry for Primary Industries snake handler. He travels with snake-catching equipment and a snake-bite first-aid kit in his car.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    9 min
  • Get Your Boots On: Budding Horticulturists

    Episode 6: If the NRL doesn’t beckon, AJ Ulugia wants to work in horticulture. He’s one of 30 students taking part in the new Akongoue programme designed to inspire Pasifika school leavers to take up careers in the sector. The students are being snapped up by local businesses and AJ found a summer job packing vegetables. He’s looking to apply for a scholarship to study horticulture at university.


    In this Primary Matters series we’re meeting people who are pulling on a pair of boots to kick-start a career in the primary industries

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    10 min
  • Get Your Boots On: Working with fellers is the way to go...

    Episode 5: Eighteen-year-old Olive Williams can’t wait to learn how to operate huge, million-dollar, mechanical, tree felling machines. She left school early, not knowing what she wanted to do, but stumbled across the Generation programme that gives an introduction to the Forest and Wood industry. Olive’s currently a quality controller for a forest harvesting company.


    In this Primary Matters series we’re meeting people who are pulling on a pair of boots to kick-start a career in the primary industries.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    12 min
  • Get Your Boots On: A pearler of a job

    The glowing sunrises and working besides dolphins pods alone would be worth getting up for every day but oyster farmer Jacob Thompson also gets a work-out on the job – and he’s paid for it.


    In this Primary Matters series we’re meeting people who are pulling on a pair of boots to kick-start a career in the primary industries

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min
  • Get Your Boots On: Planting, drilling and watching the magic grow
    When he was a small child Mat Peart would stand in the paddock next to his house in the hope any tractor working there would stop and take him for a ride. Today it’s Mat behind the wheel. The young rural contractor can sometimes be found, long after the work day is done, surveying paddocks he planted weeks before. He says its hugely rewarding to be part of the food production cycle.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    14 min

About Primary Matters

From the publisher's feed

Primary Matters – a podcast that tells the stories that matter to New Zealand’s primary industries. Hear what’s being done to keep Aotearoa’s food and fibre sectors growing and safe, and meet the…