GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:40): Now for something completely different. In January this year Western Australia became the third Australian state, behind Victoria and New South Wales, to allow farmers to grow genetically modified canola. In terms of GM-free farming, we are now an island state under siege.

The state government has listened to the South Australian public and extended its moratorium on genetically modified crops until 2014, yet, sadly, open field trials on GM-modified crops continue. In traditional, conventional farming trait selection occurs within a species, and crossing techniques result in shared plant characteristics. This is what nature has been doing, and farmers have adopted, for years. This has provided us with the amazing range of food crops available today.

On the other hand, genetic modification means the altering of the genetic material of an organism in a way that does not occur naturally by mating, natural recombination, or both. As far as farming is concerned, there are two main traits of genetically modified crops. One is to make a plant resistant or toxic to insects and the other is to make the plant tolerant to herbicide.

With the first type, a toxic bacterium is put into the plant to make it act as a pesticide. This means that if a target pest eats any part of the plant (from root to tip) it will die, because the toxin is produced in every cell of the plant. The second type is a gene inserted that is immune to herbicide, meaning that when a field of GM crops is sprayed with the herbicide everything will die except the GM crop. So, if someone tells you that GM crops are the same as conventionally bred plants and that farmers have been genetically modifying plants for thousands of years, they are not being completely honest.

Unfortunately, 80 per cent of all GM crops are fed to animals, so they are entering our food chain through products such as eggs, milk and meat. Current labelling laws mean that the majority of GM foods do not have to be labelled, such as oils and syrups, as well as products from GM-fed animals. Therefore, to a certain extent, we are all unknowingly eating GM foods, whether we like it or not.

There are three main concerns with GM foods: the potential for increased levels of pesticide in our food; the creation of unexpected proteins, toxins and allergens; and the use of antibiotic resistant genes in GM plants. Besides the health concerns there are the risks posed to the environment.

A three-year UK field study has shown that the commercial use of some genetically modified crops could alter the balance of weed species that thrive on British farmland. Research has found that butterfly numbers were cut by up to two-thirds, and bee populations by half in fields of transgenic winter canola. Bees and butterflies suffer because they prefer the type of weed targeted by the herbicide. Scientists have foreseen a flow on effect on animals higher up the food chain, including birds, and studies are continuing.

Despite the potential dangers, environmental impact assessments of GM crops are not mandatory in the US. To the best of my knowledge, to date, no environmental assessments have been undertaken in Australia either. Yet, Roundup, the chemical used in conjunction with Roundup-ready crops, such as Roundup-ready canola, has been shown to be a potential endocrine disrupter, which means that it can interfere with our hormones as well as affect the development of wildlife.

GM crops have resulted have resulted in super weeds in the US, where millions of acres have been lost to weeds such as pigweed, which have developed resistance to herbicides despite increased use of chemicals.

The suggestion is that GM crops can be grown alongside non-GM crops without contamination problems seems to contradict evidence that has been collected globally. Over the last 10 years there have been nearly 300 reports of GM contamination incidents, 9 per cent canola related.

Canola is a member of the brassica family, and past research has shown that it is likely that GM canola could cross-pollinate with crops such as broccoli and cabbage, as well as weedy relatives such as wild radish and wild turnip. Once crossed pollinated, the new plants will have inherited the Roundup-ready gene. It now appears that food researchers' worst fears may have been realised with the discovery last month of a mutant brassica in Japan.

On 2 July it was reported in the Kyodo News International that a type of wild broccoli, growing near a national highway in the Mie Prefecture, was found to have the genes of genetically modified rapeseed. The discovery was found as part of a survey conducted in mid and late June by collecting 14 samples of cruciferous plants in areas alongside route 23. Of the samples, 13 had genes and proteins of herbicide resistant rapeseeds developed by chemical manufacturers.

There have been cases of interbreeding between genetically-modified rapeseeds and normal rapeseeds for horticultural purposes in the past, but the latest finding of this mutation between a wild plant (Rorippa indica), which grows in the South-East Asian regions (including Japan), and a genetically modified one could be the world's first case of intercrossing found in the wild.

A Yokkaichi University lecturer involved in the study, Masaharu Kawata, has expressed concern that, as the possibility has now emerged that modified genes have spread among wildlife, it could have a massive impact not only on farming but also on entire ecosystems. To counter the possibility of a future of Frankenstein crops, we need greater government funding of sustainable and organic farming approaches, including through the provision for education and agricultural extension and research and development.

South Australia accounts for around 20 per cent of Australia's certified organic production. We must support these alternative farming methods and food production, including broadacre crops, horticulture, meat, dairy, aquaculture and value-added products. The importance of the organic industry should not be underestimated, with national retail sales expected to exceed $1 billion this year, and consumer demand far outstrips supply. We have nearly 12 million hectares (around 29 million acres) of certified organic farmland in this country, the largest of any country in the world.

Time expired.