Some good GM discussion from ABC Country Hour

Some good GM discussion from ABC Country Hour
Tasmanian Country HourWednesday, May 28, 2008GM Technology Forum - the farmers' perspectiveReport: Cameron WilsonThe Tasmanian Farmers' and Graziers' Association supports the removal of a blanket ban on GM technology.It says crops should be assessed on a case by case basis.Ian Whyte is senior officer in charge of policy with TFGA and he says the forums are impartial"Our objective very much in this series of forums is to have more information on the table.""This is a deliberate exercise to that end.""While by and large the speakers did express the benefits of GM they weren't the only things, they also expressed disbenefits and the problems of communication that lie at the heart of all this."

In this report: Ian Whyte, senior officer in charge of policy,GM Technology Forum - the ethics of GM technologyReport: Cameron WilsonWhat are some of the biggest ethical questions when it comes to GM technology?Dr Lucy Carter is a research consultant with he University of Queensland and she specialises in questions of ethics. She says the benefits outweigh the risks of GM technology as long as the risks are looked at on a case by case status."The first one probably would be health concerns and the implications of eating or consuming GM crops. That is a labelling issue primarily. As far as I know there are no health concerns, there is no data to show it is harmful in anyway to consume GM crops.With respect to labelling people feel they ought to be given the choice to purchase GM food... and here in Australia we have mandatory labelling laws to ensure that genetically modified food ingredients are labelled as such.

In this report: Dr Lucy Carter, research consultant, University of QueenslandListen: GM Technology Forum - what the scientist saysReport: Cameron WilsonThe Tasmanian state government is reviewing its GM policy to determine whether it should maintain the existing moritorium on GM crops.Alan Richardson from the CSIRO, is a principle research scientist involved in GM research, explains what is happening in Australia."At the moment in Australia we have three GM commercial crops, the first of those is a carnation produced by a bio-tech firm in Victoria and that's for flower colour and long vase life. The second one is GM cotton which is largely being produced by CSIRO and that GM cotton has inbuilt insect resistance."He says that particular cotton strain was introduced into Australia in 1996 and now accounts for 90per cent of all cotton grown. He says the strain has resulted in an 80per cent reduction in the need to use pesticides. "Canola has caused a little bit of controversy... State governments have seen a need, because it is a food crop, of imposing moratoriums and those moratoriums have been lifted in Victoria and New South Wales.""In the next generation of GM crops we do have traits that will be of more significant benefit to the consumer. And I can give you one example. At the CSIRO we are developing oil seed crops like canola that have inbuilt production of Omega 3's. Omega 3's have tremendous health benefits, there's widespread community acceptance of omega 3's and to produce them in plants will be a tremendous technology and breakthrough that his very large benefits to the consumer."Mr Richardson says there are some risks involved in GM technology. "The important thing is that we identify the risks and where are risks are identified we appropriately manage those risks. And GM technology, like all technology... does come with some risks but as long as we identify those risks and appropriately manage those risks then they do offer tremendous opportunities to go forward for the future."He says risks to human health is not a major issue because Australia has a very safe food supply.

In this report: Alan Richardson, senior principle research scientist, ABARE faces inaccuracy and GM bias accusationsReport: Jane BardonThe Federal Government's agricultural forecaster has answered criticisms of inaccuracy and bias by saying it sometimes can't tally its modelling with the real world.The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics has been accused of misleading over oil supplies and genetically modified crops.A series of unequivocally pro-GM crop reports from ABARE has raised eyebrows among opponents.Now ABARE has admitted to a Senate committee that some of its reports are based on research peer-reviewed by other scientists, and models which can't factor in real world scenarios.Greens Senator Rachel Siewert questioned ABARE head Phillip Glyde about the latest, which said regional Australia will lose money if it doesn't adopt GM crops.She said when factors like climate change, market resistance, segregation costs and weed problems hadn't been considered, conclusions were likely to be wrong.Mr Glyde replied: "What you are talking about in terms of describing the real world is often not amenable to the modelling. You can't often factor in the real precision of the real world, so what we do is describe an illustrative scenario. We make abundantly clear in the document where the assumptions are."ABARE analyst Dr Jammie Penm denied assumptions that GM crops will increase yields were based on any field trials run by GM crop companies.But they weren't run in Australia."Quite a large number of the reports are published... are internally renowned professional journals. Naturally I can not give a guarantee that they are all 100% unbiased."Nationals Senator Fiona Nash asked ABARE's Phillip Glyde whether anyone in export markets had actually been asked about attitudes to buying GM crops from Australia.He replied: "I'm pretty sure we have had no discussions with the export market. What we are talking about here is a desktop study."That didn't satisfy Senator Nash:"You need to take on board that you need to be much clearer about the fact that you are using desktop studies, modelling, that you are using a whole range of assumptions, when what you have in print, clearly has a leaning towards that we will be worse off if we don't use GM canola. That is the impression that it gives."ABARE was also accused of grossly underestimating looming oil shortages.Phillip Glyde said there are many factors behind the rising oil price.Greens Senator Christine Milne wasn't impressed."Rural and regional Australia depends on your forecasts for all sorts of reasons, and you've got it fundamentally wrong. That's why people are now feeling really angry now about this because they can't make the changes fast enough to relieve themselves of high prices because we're not ready for it, now don't you accept some responsibility for that?"Philip Glyde replied: "I don't accept the responsibility for laying out the assumptions behind our forecast, doing the best possible job we could in ascertaining the information and the data behind those and putting it forward."I am also very pleased to hear that all of rural and regional Australia is hanging off the forecasts of ABARE."Perhaps less so, in future.In this report: Phillip Glyde ABARE executive director; Christine Milne Greens Senator; Rachel Siewert Greens Senator; Fiona Nash Nationals Senator; Dr Jammie Penm ABARE analystListen:

Greenpeace recruits famous chefsReport: Will OckendenNew South Wales' and Victorian farmers are sowing the first commercial genetically modified crops. But this hasn't stopped Greenpeace. Its latest campaign against GM foods will use famous chefs to influence consumers.The chefs will sign a GM-free charter, agreeing not to use GM products in their restaurants. Neil Perry, head chef at one of Sydney's most exclusive restaurants, said he supports the campaign because Australia is viewed internationally as a "green" producer."I travel a lot around Australia and the world, and one of the things that comes through about people's perceptions about Australia is that it's a green experience. I just think losing something that you're able to pin to yourself as a good catch cry to make some noise about, seems to me to be losing something."Mr Perry said he doesn't use canola oil in any of his ingredients anyway, but hopes the government will amend labelling laws so consumers can choose what they're eating.Greenpeace was asked for an interview, but said they don't want to comment until the campaign's launch on Thursday.In this report: Neil Perry, Rockpool Restaurant in Sydney