Genetically Modified Crops Moratorium

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (14:17): My question is to the Minister for Regional Development and Primary Industries. Can the minister please update the house on the Marshall Liberal government's commitment to deliver choice for farmers by lifting the moratorium on GM on mainland South Australia?

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (14:18): Yes, I can. I thank the member for Narungga for his important question. I am actually surprised he is even here. His phone has been ringing off the hook with angry farmers who have been denied a choice.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Yes, that's right.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Cheltenham!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Those opposite laugh, because you are not the farmers' friend. You are not the farmers' friend, I can assure you.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Waite and member for Morphett! The member for Cheltenham is warned.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: On Tuesday, farmers were again denied the opportunity—

Mr Duluk interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Waite is warned.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —to work under the no-GM banner, and that is really sad. What we have seen is that, when the regulation was introduced, we had this lame excuse of 'process'. We had members in the upper house from SA-Best who used the 'process' to scuttle lifting the moratorium on you. Now we introduce a bill, the legislation, and it is 'process' again.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Giles!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: You are not the farmers' friend.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order: the minister is reflecting on a vote of this parliament within the same session.

The SPEAKER: That he may be doing. He is out of the blocks pretty enthusiastically. I ask members on my left not to provoke the minister and I ask the minister not to respond to that provocation. I will be listening carefully to the minister's answer. I would like to hear the answer, please. Minister.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Again, the grain growers, the farmers of South Australia, have been denied the opportunity to have choice. They have been denied the opportunity to farm—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: last week, we had this debate.

The SPEAKER: Yes. I do not think that the minister was infringing the standing orders with that last comment, but I will be listening carefully. Members, if this level of interjection continues, some members will be departing the chamber. Minister.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: What I can say is that the farming community, the grain growers of South Australia, are furious. They are furious that they have been denied a choice. What I would say—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is on two warnings.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Again, what we have found is that some opposite have decided to use politics over policy.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Sir—

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens, if this is for debate, I am not upholding that point of order for a general comment, but I take your point. Believe you me, I am listening to every word carefully.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: The decision not to support our farmers, to give them the choice, has come at great cost.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Hammond is called to order. The minister is well aware of what the standing orders are, and I am listening carefully.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: What I would say is that here in South Australia we are the only mainland state of this nation that has been handbraked, if you like, by living under a moratorium. The ideology of a moratorium here in South Australia takes away the advantage. It takes away the opportunity for our farmers—

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Sit down.

The SPEAKER: There is a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Yes, sir. We had this debate not last week.

The SPEAKER: Yes, I have the point of order. History is beginning to repeat itself. If this becomes trivial or vexatious and members raise trivial points of order, they will be leaving the chamber. I reiterate my earlier remarks, and I caution the minister about his future comments.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: We come back to the moratorium here in South Australia.

Mr Hughes interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Giles is warned.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: What I would like to say is that the consultation we have been through as a government has been extensive. Kym Anderson is a well-renowned professor. He has been out and consulted with the independent review. We have had a select committee from the upper house. We have seen a considerable amount of consultation and public meetings through a statutory obligation, through a regulation, that would give our farmers the choice. Along the way, we have seen many, many representatives come—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Do you want us to just ignore the standing orders?

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is warned. You're not leaving yet. The minister has about 30 seconds left.

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Again, as we travel around South Australia, there have been many farmers who have been part of the social media campaign, and they are alarmed. Some of those comments are from Wayne Hawkins. He owns a property on both sides of the border. On one side, he has productivity gains; on the South Australian side, he is dictated to by some archaic moratorium.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: We look at others. Tanja Morgan from the southern Mallee said that we need those tools in our toolkit to help us remain productive and sustainable, and that includes GM technology. We look at David 'Skeet' Lawson at Pinnaroo. We need those tools in our toolbox—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: —to be more competitive, reduce our inputs and stay ahead of the game, just like our interstate counterparts do.