Neoliberal Knowledge Production in Aotearoa New Zealand: Confronting Kauri Dieback and Myrtle Rust

The detection of kauri dieback and myrtle rust pathogens in Aotearoa|New Zealand prompted the government to fund research and engagement into what has been constructed both as a biosecurity risk and a threat to species of profound cultural significance. Researchers, iwi, public sector staff and community members are now working across projects and locations to build an understanding of these two plant pathogens and to develop protections for the trees they target. This paper combines interview material from two projects within Ngā Rakau Taketake’s Postcolonial Biosecurity Possibilities remit to investigate the factors that enable and constrain plant pathogen research and practice. Actors in this space discuss the difficulty of working around gaps in basic research, a fragmented and competitive research sector, and expectations of a technological fix for a complex pathogen and its varied ecological relations. We argue that these accounts illustrate the ongoing effects of Aotearoa’s neoliberal turn, which continues to shape knowledge production and, in turn, what it is to be a researcher in Aotearoa. While the effects of these reforms have been well documented in relation to higher education and other spheres, their impact on the sciences has received less scrutiny. Foregrounding the views of those involved in kauri dieback and myrtle rust highlights the everyday manifestations and material environmental consequences of a pervasively neoliberalised research landscape.