It's an interesting subject. My take is that the probability of shark attack is so small, you shouldn't worry about it, but we are humans, not robots and it activates a primal fear. I think SCUBA divers are relatively safe, but there are always exceptions. Freediving and spearfishing in particular are higher risk. Experienced spearos seem to see it as a managed risk and almost part of the fun! There seems to be more great whites around the north island these days. I'm not sure whether that is true or just more people carrying cameras and posting on social media. I don't know much about shark shields, but the Aussies do, so it would be worth jumping on one of their diving forums.
This is a great resource, download the "Incident Log" and play with the data. You can limit it to NZ. I'm not sure whether it's reassuring or terrifying!
https://www.sharkattackfile.net/incidentlog.htm
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