Hundreds of people gathered in the centre of Brisbane today to protest at the actions of agribusiness giant Monsanto. The promoters of the pesticide RoundUp, which kills everything except the company’s genetically modified crops, are lobbying law makers around the world to promote their products and protect them from lawsuits.
The company has been implicated in leakage of genes from its genetically modified crops which it then uses to bring lawsuits against farmers who do not buy its products, claiming they have ‘stolen’ their genes.
The Farm Bill before the US Congress has been widely billed as the Monsanto Protection Act. See related story yesterday.
Brisbane’s rally was one of many rally’s around the world, all conveniently ignored by the mainstream media. Independent press like Westender is critical in ensuring that governments are held to account in governing for the interest of their citizens, rather than coorporations and their highly paid lobbyists.
The Greens candidate for Brisbane, Rachael Jacobs spoke passionately at the Brisbane rally, pointing out that the Greens are the only elected representatives who have been elected without donations from corporations seeking to influence politicians.
