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

Three years ago Labor backbencher Luke Donnellan voted for a four-year ban
on genetically modified crops in Victoria. Last week Mr Donnellan invited
his Labor colleagues to attend a pro-GM meeting at Parliament House
sponsored by the Institute of Public Affairs, an outfit not highly regarded
in Labor circles by William Birnbauer .
With the State Government's ban on genetically modified canola expiring in
February, supporters and opponents are beginning their lobbying campaigns.
The outcome will depend on whether Labor has shifted ground on the
controversial technology.

ALP insiders say that senior ministers, especially Treasurer John Brumby and
Premier Steve Bracks, regard the ban as running counter to the aim of making
Victoria an international hub for biotechnology. "They wouldn't be in Boston
(for Bio 2007) saying, 'We're going to extend the moratorium', would they?"
asks one Labor MP.

Mr Donnellan told The Sunday Age he was generally supportive of genetically
modified food. In his email invitation to MPs, he said: "I believe the
technology has the potential to assist us to deal with food and water
shortages both here and overseas."

Mr Donnellan was one of three MPs ? the others are from the Liberal and
National parties ? who were enlisted by the Institute of Public Affairs to
invite guests to hear pro-GM speakers over drinks and finger food in the
Legislative Council committee room.

The Labor Party is split over whether to continue the moratorium and is
headed for a potentially divisive debate. Already, Tammy Lobato, MP for
Gembrook, is gearing up a big campaign. "I urge the people of Victoria to
participate in this public debate and consider the evidence," she said.
"Going down the GM road is an irreversible path and Victorians need to
assess whether this is the right way to go for our farmers, our communities,
our environment and our health." She did not believe it was.

One clue to the Government's attitude is the language it uses in its press
releases. In 2004, the former agriculture minister Bob Cameron said the
commercial release of GM canola "would represent a point of no return for
Victoria. The Government believes the risks to export markets outweighs any
perceived benefits at this time."

Last week, Agriculture Minister Joe Helper was not convinced about the risk
to exports. "In Victoria, the focus will be on what impact the use of this
technology would have on our trade markets if the moratorium was lifted," he
said.

The institute expects 50 to 70 MPs to attend the meeting. They will hear
from Rick Roush, the dean of land and food resources at Melbourne
University, Jennifer Marohasy, an IPA fellow, and Chris Kelly, a Mallee
grain grower.

The meeting follows a front-page report in The Sunday Age last week that the
State Government is set to lift its ban on GM crops. The report prompted a
large number of letters from readers opposed to GM foods.

Anti-GM campaigners such as Bob Phelps from Gene Ethics and Julie Newman
from the Network of Concerned Farmers, are firing their first shots in the
new debate. They claim that biotechnology giants Monsanto, Bayer CropScience
and Nufarm are funding pro-GM farm lobby groups and the IPA.

The Sunday Age has confirmed that the institute receives total funding of
about $1.5 million a year, of which $4000 comes from the global agricultural
biotechnology company Monsanto.

Mr Kelly, who is to address Tuesday's seminar, is the Victorian convener of
the pro-GM Producers Forum and a director of the Birchip Cropping Group. The
group's internet site lists its diamond sponsors as including Bayer
CropScience and crop protection company Nufarm Limited.

Bayer CropScience in 2003 won approval from the federal Gene Technology
Regulator for the commercial release of herbicide-tolerant InVigor hybrid
canola in Australia. Last September, Nufarm paid Monsanto $10 million for
the licence to Roundup Ready canola, which also has been approved by the
gene regulator.

The biotechnology giants spent tens of millions of dollars developing these
seeds. Moratoriums by state governments halted release of both manipulated
canola varieties.

In 2003, Professor Roush and his scientific collaborators received $20,000
from Bayer and Monsanto for research into canola pollen. He said it was the
only funding he had received from those companies in 30 years of research.

Julie Newman, of the anti-GM Network of Concerned Farmers, points at a group
called Agrifood Awareness, which she said was the main policy adviser for
farm groups lobbying in favour of genetically manipulated crops.

She claimed the Grains Research and Development Corporation, which imposes a
levy of 1 per cent of gross sales on farmers, contributed $100,000 a year to
Agrifood Awareness. She said the levy was supposed to pay for grain
research.

Agrifood Awareness executive director Paula Fitzgerald said the money was
also used for workshops in gene technology run with the CSIRO.

Ms Fitzgerald said moratoriums in Victoria and elsewhere had led to
international companies doing less research here, especially on grains. She
said the bans signalled there was no path for the commercialisation of GM
products here.

The State Government is expected to announce details of its moratorium
review soon. The Agriculture Minister, Mr Helper, said the review would be
limited to the potential impact on trade.

Professor Roush said that when the ban was imposed in 2004 there were
concerns that Japan or European countries would not buy genetically modified
canola or crops from Australia. These had proved to be invalid, he said. "A
lot of the concerns people had a few years ago have passed us by and
Australia has been passed by as other places are using the technology,"
Professor Roush said.

In 2003, the Victorian Government commissioned Professor Peter Lloyd to
assess market risks to trade if Victoria planted GM canola. He found no
evidence that the US or Canada had lost market share because of their canola
GM exports, or that consumers were willing to pay a premium for non-GM
foods.

Professor Lloyd recommended limited release of GM canola varieties in a
trial for coexistence with non-GM crops. The Government rejected the report
and imposed a four-year ban on GM canola.

Meanwhile, the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria will begin a series of forums
tomorrow in Cohuna and Shepparton before a policy debate on the issue next
month.

The June annual meeting will consider a "pro choice" policy that says it is
up to farmers to decide if they want to use GM crops. Also up for discussion
are separate motions for and against the continuation of the moratorium.

The case against
Geoffrey Carracher, 66, Minimay, west of Horsham

Geoff Carracher is already wary of how genetically modified produce can get
into the food chain.

In 2005, the fourth-generation grain farmer discovered his canola seeds had
been "infected" at his distributor with GM seeds created by Bayer.

His crop was later cleared and declared GM-free.

Mr Carracher's biggest concern is once GM seeds become commercially
available, they would spread to all crops through pests, wind and human
error.

He said he was yet to see any independent tests that proved the health
safety of GM food or financial viability for the grower.

"We have no idea what will happen down the line," he said. "It's something
that should be tested over 20 years. They are going to force us into
something that we know is not proven to be any better."

He said the multinationals Bayer and Monsanto were hiding behind a wall of
silence. This, he said, included their refusal to release statistics on GM
crop yields against non-GM yields.

He said farmers whose crops started growing GM seeds accidentally would be
made to pay licensing fees to avoid litigation, part of the multinationals'
plan to monopolise the seed industry.

"In the end we will have to buy their seed and buy their chemical products,"
he said.

He said he would refuse to grow GM crops if the moratorium was lifted but
conceded he might be forced to change his stance over time.

The case for
Andrew Weidemann, 42, Rupanyup, east of Horsham

For grain farmer Andrew Weidemann, genetically modified food is the
revolution Australian farming has to have.

Crops that are cheaper, healthier and better for the environment, and
achieved with higher yields is how he sees the outcome.

"It's all about the right to choose the best technology that's provided to
us," he said. "It will allow us to produce crops that give all sorts of
benefit, from lower trans-fat levels to ? wheat that can be eaten by people
who are flour-intolerant.

"In the past, we've had a heavy reliance on herbicides and pesticides, but
this technology means we will use a lot less of this. It makes farming a lot
more cost-effective. We can go from spending $70 a hectare on herbicide to
between $15 and $20."

Mr Weidemann, 42, sees no big difference between the traditional crossbred
seeds Victorian farmers now plant and GM ones.

Genetic science, he says, just does it more efficiently. "It's smarter
science, that's all it is."

Traditional crossbreeding is like throwing darts at a dartboard and hitting
with one in every six darts.

Bio-technology means you can hit the board every time. It's about being able
to pick the right gene.

Mr Weidemann understands concerns about GM foods but says they are the
result of Greenpeace scare-mongering.

"Because so many people don't understand it, they will say they don't want
GM. But 95 per cent of people will buy it if it's cheaper. It's bloody
hypocrisy."

Who stands to benefit?

Monsanto
Leading biotechnology company. Its Roundup products are the world's
best-selling herbicides. Last year it recorded global seed sales of $US4
billion ($A4.9 billion). In Australia it sells genetically modified cotton.
It recently sold its Roundup Ready canola to Nufarm.

Nufarm
Based in Melbourne and listed on the ASX, Nufarm operates in New Zealand,
Asia, Europe and the Americas. It makes products that protect crops from
weeds, pests and disease. Last year it reached profits after tax of $121
million on sales of $1.68 billion.

Bayer Cropscience
The global Bayer healthcare group subsidiary Bayer CropScience was
established in Australia in 2002 after the acquisition of Aventis
CropScience. It provides insecticides, herbicides and fungicides and holds a
GM canola licence.

[www.theage.com.au]