Report: Benefits of regional and unitary council biosecurity interventions

Regional councils and unitary authorities (RUAs) spend an estimated $142 million annually on managing biosecurity programmes across 13.2 million hectares of productive land.

Te Uru Kahika engaged Heuser|Whittington to assess the economic value of regional biosecurity programmes delivered by New Zealand's regional and unitary authorities (RUAs). This report is written for RUAs, primary sector organisations, farming bodies and other industry stakeholders and central government policy makers engaged in RUA structural reforms. It provides an independent, evidence base for those organisations to engage in current discussions about local government functions and reform.

This report finds that the investment is strongly justified. Every quantitative cost-benefit analysis conducted across 16 RUAs that provided one found positive net benefits. The best evidenced programmes return $22 for every $1 invested over 10 years, rising to $128 per dollar over 50 years. 

We're proud of our biosecurity efforts and will continue to contribute to reform conversations to help ensure that this service to our communities, economy and environment isn't disrupted.