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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-29 Daily Xml
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GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS

The Hon. M. PARNELL (15:23): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question about the cultivation of commercial genetically modified canola crops in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M. PARNELL: In the lead-up to the 2010 state election, the ALP issued a media release announcing that:

A re-elected Rann Labor Government will extend the current moratorium on growing genetically modified crops until 2014. Environment Minister Jay Weatherill announced today that Labor had made the decision so that the state's clean, green brand could be protected and he called on the Liberals to match the election promise.

Then minister Weatherill is quoted as saying, 'Labor is very clear on this issue.' The media release also explained the reason for maintaining the moratorium as follows:

In 2008, the Rann government pledged to maintain the current moratorium on growing GM canola in South Australia because there was no convincing argument that allowing GM crops will have a positive impact for the state.

Consistent with this promise, the GM Crops Management Regulations 2008 (which don't expire until 1 September 2019) state that:

The whole of the state is designated as an area in which no genetically modified food crops may be cultivated.

However, according to the PIRSA website, there are currently 11 crops sites of commercially approved GM canola in South Australia. The GM canola being cultivated in SA is Bayer CropScience's 'In Vigor hybrid canola', which was approved by the Office of Gene Technology Regulator for commercial release in July 2003 under the license DIR 201/2002. These 11 commercial crop sites of GM canola have been approved by the minister under section 6(2)(a)(ii) of the Genetically Modified Crops Management Act, which provides exemptions to:

Cultivate a genetically modified food crop on a limited and contained basis at a specified place or places.

So, unlike previous exemptions under the act that allowed for GM canola crop trials in South Australia, these 11 crops were approved by the minister for commercial cultivation. My questions of the minister are:

1. Given that the ALP promised to keep South Australia GM free, why did you approve commercial GM canola crops to be cultivated in 11 sites in South Australia in 2012?

2. How does allowing the cultivation of commercial GM crops in South Australia fit in with the government's commitment to protect the state's clean, green brand and its pledge to maintain the current moratorium on growing GM canola in South Australia?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (15:25): South Australia does have a moratorium on the growing of GM crops. I believe we are the only state, the only jurisdiction, in Australia to do so, and we are very proud of that moratorium. It goes to 2019, I believe. Even though various interests have worked very hard to try to get us to review that, we are absolutely committed to maintaining that. There are exemptions, as the Hon. Mark Parnell referred to.

Section 6 of the act allows the minister by notice to confer exemptions from the operation of section 5, and there have been a number of exemptions. Globally the grains industry has been able to maintain productivity increases of the order of 3 per cent per annum over the past 20 years by operating seed development programs in both hemispheres. To help maintain global food security it is important that that advantage is taken at every opportunity to accelerate on-farm productivity and net food exporters such as Australia.

Exemptions provide an opportunity to validate the performance of new seed varieties. Two entities are active in this area in South Australia—Bayer CropScience and particularly the state-funded Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, which is based on the University of Adelaide's Waite campus. Because Bayer CropScience is a global company, its research and innovation program in the South-East of this state is part of the company's global research and innovation program. The Australian market is too small to justify the investment in seed suited only to the Australian market, whether or not it is genetically modified.

To overcome the limitations of a small Australian market the ACPFG is working with the international partners developing plant products for the global market. Exemptions are subject to stringent conditions. Compliance with conditions of exemptions are conferred to 6(2)(a)(i) and is monitored by OGTR, while compliance with conditions of exemptions conferred pursuant to 6(2)(a)(ii) is monitored by Biosecurity SA.

A register of exemptions is maintained on the PIRSA website, along with the record of trial sites for each planting season, and the government provides parliament with an annual report on the gene technology covering the operation of the act. The moratorium has paid off significantly. South Australia enjoys very high quality grain in this state and grains coming from a GM-banned area fetch very good prices compared with grain coming from GM sites.

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