Dr Nick Smith National Environment Spokesperson

30 July 2001

Greens hung by own dreadlocks on GM inquiry

The Green Party has been hung by its own Royal Commission of Inquiry on genetic modification, with all of its major demands being rejected, National's Environment spokesperson Dr Nick Smith said today.

"National welcomes this report. It shows an intelligent blend of protection, progress and production. It also endorses the regulatory processes National believes must be in place to ensure GE research is carried out in a sensible manner.

"The Royal Commission has rejected Green calls for a GE-free New Zealand, for a prohibition on field trials, for a ban on commercialisation and for only GE-free vaccines being available.

"The report also rejects the Green Party's attacks on the key regulatory processes managed by ERMA (Environmental Risk Management Authority) and ANZFA (Australia New Zealand Food Authority). The Greens have not convinced the Royal Commission on a single one of their major demands.

"This report is a welcome opportunity to move the debate beyond scaremongering and sloganeering.

"Having spent $6 million on the Commission and more than 16 months on its investigation, the Greens must accept that they have had their day in court and lost. Continued demands for a GE-free New Zealand will have a hollow, meaningless ring," Dr Smith said.

National's Science spokesperson, Maurice Williamson, has also welcomed the report, describing it as a victory for rational thought over extremist, anti-scientific dogma.

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