TWO members of the expert committee that advises the State Government on genetically modified crops claim they are gagged from speaking about the committee’s work, and the committee’s make-up is kept from the public to hide the fact it is stacked with pro-GM appointees. [...] Not even the names of the committee’s members appear on the Department of Primary Industries website, but it includes people from the CSIRO, the Australian Wheat Board (AWB), the NSW Farmers’ Association, GrainCorp and the plant-breeding organisation CropLife - all organisations that have supported GM crops.

The Federal Government’s forecaster says Australian farmers could lose a billion dollars a year if full adoption of genetically modified canola and wheat is delayed.

Western and South Australia and Tasmania are still banning GM crops. The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics says that, by 2018, Argentina, Brazil, India and China will be getting yield and cost advantages from GM crops.

Nambucca Shire Council will decide this week if it will ban genetically modified (GM) food and crops in the region. General manager Michael Coulter says the organisation Gene Ethics is asking the council to support such a ban. He says the council has also sought advice from the Australian Government’s gene technology regulator.

The State’s Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald approved the commercial production of GM canola about two weeks ago on the recommendation of the Government’s Expert Committee on Gene Technology. But two of its members say the committee is stacked with proponents of GM crops who have downplayed and marginalised the dissenting members’ concerns. And the pair say they could be risking a jail sentence by speaking out.

THE Esperance Downs Research Station was to hold the first trial of genetically modified canola crops in Western Australia but due to the State Government’s strong stance on GM crops, the seed companies involved have decided not to provide the GM canola seeds. The 2.5-hectare trial was to be co-ordinated by the South East Premium Wheat Growers Association together with Kalyx Agriculture. SEPWA spokesman Chris Reichstein said that as of two weeks ago they were confident of going ahead with the trial until Premier Alan Carpenter made it clear to seed companies that there is ”no hope” for GM food crops in WA.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management (Weeds CRC) recently cautioned that Australia must observe Canada’s approach to integrated weed management if it is to introduce herbicide-tolerant crops and manage them in a way that does not increase the risk of herbicide-resistant weeds. The warning comes as Victoria and New South Wales lifted their moratoria on GM canola late last year and other states review their rules on GM crops.

In Labor’s Plan for Primary Industries, developed for the 2007 Federal election, your Party gave the following undertaking to the Australian people in relation to genetic engineering (GE) and genetically modified (GM) crops: ’Labor recognises ongoing community concern about genetically modified crops being grown in Australia. We believe that genetically modified (GM) crops should not be approved for commercial release unless they are safe to health and the environment, and beneficial to the economy. Labor supports the existing national framework for management and regulation of gene technology.

Approval has been granted for genetically modified (GM) canola to be grown commercially in NSW, however limited seed stocks means there will be a small crop, Primary Industries Minister, Ian Macdonald, says. Mr Macdonald approved the commercial production of GM canola following advice from the NSW Expert Committee on Gene Technology. It follows the decision by the Iemma State Government late last year to amend legislation to allow commercial production of GM crops under strict conditions.

THE Federal Government faces a concerted campaign from a new coalition of health, environment and farm groups to ban genetically modified crops and foods until they are proved safe beyond reasonable doubt. More than 700 groups and individuals have signed a letter urging Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and senior ministers to meet a group of 20 experts to examine the health risks associated with GM foods. The fresh attempt to exert political pressure at the national level follows a controversial decision by Victoria and NSW to join Queensland in ending their bans on GM crops.

WA’s first broadacre trial of genetically modified (GM) canola has been called off after seed companies refused to supply the seed to WA for the critical research project. The 2.5ha trial was to be held at the Esperance Downs Research Station this season. It was to be co-ordinated by the South-East Premium Wheat Growers Association (SEPWA) with the science co-ordinated by Kalyx Agriculture director, Peter Burgess. It was intended that a small plot variety evaluation and the small plot agronomy trials would be used in conjunction with large-scale demonstration blocks to measure the performance of several different GM varieties compared to current grains.