TASMANIA would jeopardise key markets by dropping its GE ban, says Food Industry Council of Tasmania member Richard Bovill. Calls to keep a GE ban come as lobbying to allow GE crops intensifies. Genetically engineered foods had no proven benefits to consumers, said Mr Bovill, a vegetable grower.

Chairman of Dairy Australia, Max Roberts, says responsible research is the key to winning back shoppers’ confidence. ”It’s a balance issue and a responsible approach to the use of GM,” he says. ”I think that’s a responsibility of us as research fund providers, to make sure that there’s a responsible approach to research, that we don’t end up with GM products that are issues and problems for the future.”

The Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) believes local councils can effectively make their municipalities free of genetically modified (GM) crops. It says local health plans can be altered to make it very difficult for GM crops to be grown or distributed in a region. […..] The VLGA’s Warren Moloney says councils should inform residents of GM crop trials and use any other method to deter GM products entering their region.

LABOR MP Jenny Mikakos will defy Premier John Brumby and lobby the Federal Government for better labelling of genetically modified foods. The move, a direct challenge to Mr Brumby’s authority, comes as caucus dissent erupts over the decision to allow GM canola to be grown in Victoria. Five Labor MPs made anti-GM submissions to a government review, with two yesterday speaking out angrily against Mr Brumby’s decision.

IN POLITICS, it’s the internal character references that do the most damage — which is why John Brumby should be worried that he’s just been branded arrogant and described as a bull in a china shop by one of his own. Ask election losers John Howard and Ted Baillieu about the harm such from-the-inside critiques can cause.

This is a far sighted and necessary decision to keep Australia at the forefront of science and its application to benefit farmers and society. Australian farmers are already ten years behind their competitors in North and South America, with India and China also rapidly expanding their area of GM crops. This decision will also pave the way for society to benefit from more healthy food, that will help reduce obesity, improve cardiovascular health, improve bowel health and reduce Type II diabetes.

TASMANIA could be the only state to keep a ban on genetically modified food crops. Two states moved yesterday to allow GM canola crops, but Tasmanian Primary Industries Minister David Llewellyn continued to resist. 

New South Wales and Victoria will lift the ban on GM canola, saying it will open export opportunities in the US and Canada. Mr Llewellyn said there were benefits in being GM-free.

A DECISION to allow genetically modified canola to be grown in Victoria has inflamed dissent in the Brumby Government and sparked warnings that non-GM farms could be contaminated. Anti-GM activists have also lashed the decision, saying consumers face a growing array of food made from GM material — without always knowing when they are buying it. But the move was welcomed by rural interests as sensible, and backed by scientists who say the risks of adverse consequences are minimal.

There seems to be no one sitting on the fence of the genetically modified canola debate with people from both sides voicing their opinions loud and clear. The debate has heated up after the NSW Government has announced it will lift the moratorium on GM canola, with the possibility of planting GM varieties as early as March next year. The NSW Government believes it’s done extensive research on GM crops and says they will have strict rules and regulations to ensure safeguards are kept. They’ve addressed the consumer concerns by saying strict labelling laws will be put in place. As far as farmers fears over GM seeds being blown into non-GM crops, the Primary Industries Minister Ian MacDonald used the success in segregating wheat products as a prime exampl

The Greens and environmental groups have condemned the lifting of a ban on genetically-modified (GM) canola crops in New South Wales and Victoria. New South Wales Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald says the move will be good for the environment, because GM canola will require less pesticides than non-GM crops. He says the failure to allow the commercial growing of GM canola has seen the state’s farmers miss out on valuable export opportunities and lifting the ban will put the state’s farmers on a level playing field with overseas producers.