Environmental scientist Jo Immig and canola grower Juliet McFarlane, who both sat on the committee, said the go-ahead to plant GE canola should not have been given. They argue that the segregation of GE and non-GE canola cannot be guaranteed and non-GE farmers have no legal protection if their crops are contaminated by GE.
Appallingly, Primary Industries Minister Ian McDonald’s decision to introduce GE canola into the state is effectively beyond reproach, since he introduced legislation to ensure that his decision to approve the crop could not be challenged in court. This is unprecedented for legislation of this nature and Greens MP Ian Cohen has accused the minister of “treating the parliament as his own fiefdom.”
The NSW government established the committee to “assess whether industry is prepared and capable of segregating genetically modified (GM) and non-GM food crops”. However, the committee is cloaked in secrecy – with the identity of committee members not being publicly revealed. Committee members can face prison sentences of up to three months for divulging committee discussions. Having such a gag order on a public committee is also unprecedented.
The government was required by law to record the pecuniary (vested) interests of the committee in a book that could be viewed by the public, however, this is stored in Tamworth.
On two occasions Mr Cohen unsuccessfully asked minister McDonald to provide the names of the committee and declarations of pecuniary interest. It is clear why the minister did not want to reveal them – the book shows that the majority of committee members have vested interests in GE crops. This is tantamount to letting the fox look after the chickens.
Immig said that the representatives on the committee were quite clearly very pro-GE people. "It’s hard to imagine that the committee would come up with any other outcome other than to eventually approve, or suggest to the minister that he approve the genetically modified canola,” she said.