ABSTRACT
One way to curtail opposition to a spraying operation is to drive support for it by portraying the foreign species as a threat to society. This chapter tracks the ideological work government officials carried out to frame the painted apple moth as a triple biosecurity threat: a threat to the indigenous ecology, the national economy, and public health. As well, it explains how the effectiveness of those efforts was enhanced by the surrounding cultural context, which included the country’s long history of dealing with invasive species, the population’s low eco-literacy, and the environment’s importance to New Zealand national identity. By reading this chapter the reader will gain a better appreciation for government framing activities and how the effectiveness of that ideological work is mediated by cultural context.
