[Greens-Media] Genetically Modified Organisms; better safe than sorry - Greens

[Elizabeth.Ingham at parliament.vic.gov.au]

Thursday 20 September 2007

GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS; BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY - GREENS

The Greens have cautioned State Parliament today against legislation that 
allows the release of genetically modified organisms into the environment 
to deal with an emergency declared by the Federal Government.

Greens MLC Greg Barber urged the State Government to restrict any release 
of GMOs to medical emergencies.

"We are deeply concerned that this means that an unknown and potentially 
harmful organism may be released without any fail-safe provisions or any 
real understanding of how the GMO may interact with other organisms or the 
environment." Mr Barber told Parliament. 

"This bill dramatically increases the risk of releasing a genetically 
modified organism without any of the safety nets that have been advised by 
scientists."

Mr Barber said "The gene splicing industry operates on the presumption 
that if you just pull out the little bit that you want then you can get it 
to do what you want.  In fact the gene is part of a complex network, far 
too complex to be considered isolated units."

"They seem to be losing sight of the fact that Gene technology is a 
relatively new technology and GMOs are often unpredictable, experimental 
and their effect on people or impact on the environment is unknown." he 
said.

The Greens want a full, independent assessment process for all GMOs based 
upon rigorous and robust scientific standards and a moratorium on any 
releases prior to a long term understanding of their impact, said Mr 
Barber. 

The legislation will allow the Federal Minister to expedite the GMO 
assessment process following advice from Commonwealth Officers and the 
Gene Technology Regulator that there is an imminent threat and that GMOs 
can address the threat and are safe.

The Gene Technology Amendment Bill mirrors a Federal Act to set up a 
national regulatory framework which effectively dispenses with a full 
assessment process on the potential impact of genetically modified 
organisms (GMO) released into the environment in order to deal with a 
non-genetically modified emergency.

For further comment: Greg Barber 0433 044 771
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Ingham/Greens/PARL] 
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