Farewell John

John Mather has had an illustrious career, including almost 30 years in the management of wild kiwifruit vines. The photo on the left is John in 1995, and on the right is earlier this year.

After a career in biosecurity including the past nine years at KVH, John Mather has hung up his boots for the wonderful world of retirement and we wish him all the best.

Last Friday was John’s final day in the office as our Operations & Compliance Officer. He joined the team in May 2013 as National Pest Management Plan (NPMP) Analyst & Compliance Officer and over the years he had a key role in implementing the plan, including all aspects of compliance.

Many of you will probably know John as our Authorised Person under the Biosecurity Act, which meant he issued permissions for requested movements of risk items including kiwifruit plant material used for (non-Psa) research, and machinery movements.

Many more of you likely know John from one of his favourite things - overall management, alongside Regional Councils and landowners, of our wild kiwifruit programme, ensuring wild vine infestations are detected and destroyed. The wild kiwifruit programme in particular is a real legacy to John’s efforts. John has played a key role in this programme for almost 30 years, to his time as a Pest Plant Officer at the Regional Council through to managing the programme at KVH. In this time the scale of control has increased significantly, and it is only through John’s efforts in partnership with many others, that we have managed to keep on top of what could be a significant pest plant issue and a reservoir for biosecurity threats.

If you’ve been fortunate enough to work with John or be on a field trip or response with him, we’re sure you’d agree he’s an invaluable member of any team and as committed to biosecurity as he is to sharing his knowledge and helping others.

Thank you, John, and we look forward to staying in touch with you as you move on from KVH.