Student primary teachers tend to have pervasive and frequently severe negative attitudes, low mathematics self-efficacy beliefs, and anxiety of mathematics that are more extreme than those of any other undergraduate student group. If unaddressed, such mathematics aversion will be carried into primary school classrooms, presenting a tangible and substantial risk to the mathematics learning experiences of generations of primary pupils and perpetuating the relationship between adult innumeracy and mathematics anxiety. Here, the role of primary teachers is considered via a specific focus on the mathematics attitudes and competencies of pre-service (student) primary teachers commencing their first year of Bachelor of Education (Junior Primary and Primary) degree studies. This involves, firstly, a review of an earlier study using the IMAES instrument developed by the author, which identifies the students' perceptions of mathematics, including their own capabilities; and secondly, analysis of the results of a short but comprehensive skills test administered to a different (but comparable) cohort so as to identify facets of the students' understanding of, and capacity to carry out, fundamental mathematical tasks. Finally, this latter cohort's attitudes towards, and perceptions of, mathematics in the context of their experiences are examined from a qualitative perspective via an open questionnaire. The results provide evidence that the impact of mathematics aversion in primary teachers may be reduced considerably by appropriate interventions during pre-service teacher preparation programs.