Brown Move to Condemn Wooldridge on Tasmanian GE-Debacle

[Oquist, Ben (Sen B. Brown)]

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Thursday, 1 March 2001

Brown Move to Condemn Wooldridge on Tasmanian GE-Debacle
 
Greens Senator Bob Brown has moved, as a matter of urgency, to condemn the
Federal Government's failure to prevent genetically engineered (GE) crop
contamination of Tasmania's farmlands.  His motion is-
 
That the Senate: condemns the failure of the Government and the Gene
Technology Regulator to monitor and safely control 58 sites of genetically
modified crops in Tasmania by foreign companies Aventis and Monsanto.

Calls on the Minister for Health to provide the Senate by the next sitting
day, an explanation for his failure and details on:

	(a)	What prosecution or other legal action is being taken
	(b)	What urgent moves have been set in train to contain spread
of genetically modified material within and beyond the 100 metres buffer
zone for the crop area
	(c)	When and how the Minster was informed and when and how he
reacted
	(d)	The potential damage, direct and indirect, to Tasmania's
agriculture sector, in particular its growing organic produce sector's
wellbeing.
	(e)	All approved, current and previous, GE sites in Tasmania. 

He will move to have the motion debated later this morning.  

"The  Minister for Health, Mr Wooldridge, and his Interim Office of the Gene
Technology Regulator have fuelled the fears of farmers and consumers that GE
experimentation by the multinationals in Tasmania is out of control,"
Senator Brown said.  

"Monsanto and Aventis are using Australia as a guinea pig and both state and
federal authorities have shown sheer negligence.  The potential damage to
Tasmania's burgeoning organic farm produce sector is huge and glib
assurances of negligible risk from the regulator are unacceptable," Senator
Brown said. 

Further information: Ben Oquist 02 62773170 or 0419704095


Ben Oquist
Greens Senator Bob Brown
02 62773170 ph
02 62773185 fx
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