www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

A full-scale review of Australian farm policies has called on Victoria and
other states to end their ban on production of genetically modified crops,
warning that Australia is being left behind by new technologies used
overseas, February 2006 by Tim Colebatch.

A taskforce of 11 farm and food industry leaders, chaired by National
Farmers Federation president Peter Corish, has also caused shockwaves among
farmers by calling on the Federal Government to phase out interest-rate,
fodder and transport subsidies during droughts and instead promote
"self-reliance" among farmers.

But the report also calls for governments to pay farmers for conserving
biodiversity on their land, such as wildlife habitats and stands of native
forest, igniting what is likely to become the next big campaign by farm
groups.

The report was commissioned by the Federal Government. Agriculture Minister
Peter McGauran yesterday praised it, saying he would study its long list of
recommendations and consult widely. But he ruled out one potentially
expensive recommendation: expanding the tax zone rebate to cover more than
3.5 million people living in rural areas, including much of Victoria.

The main thrust of the report is to warn that in a world of expanding
competition from lower-cost countries, the only way Australian agriculture
can remain competitive is by increasing use of new technology and research
and development.

Mr Corish said the most important recommendation of the study was that
states should lift their bans on commercial use of gene technology, so that
Australian farmers could catch up with the rest of the world, where
genetically engineered crops are spreading rapidly.

The report points out that while Australia, Argentina, Canada and the US all
began using gene technology in 1996, Australia has now fallen far behind
because Queensland is the only state allowing commercial use.

Argentina now has 65 times as much land producing genetically modified crops
as Australia has. Canada has 21 times as much, the US almost 200 times as
much, and even Brazil, which only started in 2003, now has 20 times as much
GM crop land as Australia.

In Victoria, the Bracks Government has placed a moratorium on commercial
production of genetically modified crops until February 2008, with
exceptions only for field trials. In Queensland, by contrast, most cotton is
now grown using seeds modified to increase resistance to insects.

"The world is moving forward on genetic technology, and those states that
have moratoria are holding Australia back," Mr Corish said. He said farmers
should be able to use new technology, which made their crops more resistant
to drought, insect pests or saline soils.

The report also proposes that the National Heritage Trust and National
Action Plan for salinity and water quality be replaced in 2008 by a new
program in which governments effectively "buy environmental services" from
farmers, by paying them for their management of the land to promote
biodiversity and water quality.

[www.theage.com.au]

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