Apologies, got the date wrong. Thy Page 6 on the 10th April.

Here is another article.

COUNTRYMAN (Western Australia)

Nationals off the GM fence

Paul Jarvis

April 6, 2006

National Party MPs will table a pro-GM policy to their lay party in coming weeks which would see it withdraw their support for the moratorium on the growing of GM crops in WA.

In his address to the WA Farmer's Federation conference in Perth last week, National Party leader Brendon Grylls announced that while the National's party room had supported the moratorium up until now, the time had come to make the tough decisions.

"Our party room has discussed this at length and we believe that the time has come to get off the fence and make a move on this issue," he said. "The party room has made a decision that it wants to put forward a policy to our lay party members about removing the moratorium in WA and we will be working that up over the next month or so."

The announcement comes in the wake of Opposition Liberal leader Paul Omodei's comments that he believed WA was being left behind in the development and implementation of GM crop trials.

Mr Omodei's announcement that the Liberal Party would support the introduction of significant GM trials, and now the Nationals announcement of GM support, signals the end of the unanimous political support Agriculture Minister Kim Chance had garnered for his decision to impose a moratorium. Mr Grylls said the Nationals would be taking the policy to industry groups such as the WA Farmers Federation and the PGA in an attempt to win broad industry support for their position.

If the Nationals are going to ignore all the problems associated with GM then there is no way that this (obviously their only policy) is going to get them voted in.

If that's the only opinion (as most political quotes are opinions) that you are quoting to say to us consumers that we should "Take GM into our diet" then I'm sorry but this just makes me more disgusted and more determined to ensure that I maintain a choice.

I've heard that the Nationals are dead anyway so this may well be their death knoll. They are not interested in doing research into the implications of what GM could do as a potential biohazard and ignoring facts.

It does not matter if the Nationals
"... wants to put forward a policy to our lay party members about removing the moratorium in WA..."
because the Nationals have nothing to do with the WA moratorium.
The decision rests with Kim Chance, the Minister for Agriculture and he has made a firm committment to maintain the moratorium.

Paul Omodei's comments "that he believed WA was being left behind in the development and implementation of GM crop trials." indicates how little he knows about the GM moratorium. GM crop trials ARE allowed and are being grown (for example, the GM wheat trials in Corrigin). The moratorium is not stopping trials, only commercial release.

The 5,000ha proposed trials are not "trials" at all, they are a backdoor commercial release and will not be accepted. These "trials" are little more than a deliberate attempt to remove our GM-free status while the non-GM grower is liable for the consequences.

WEEKLY TIMES
April 19, 2006

Time to end GM moratorium

It is great to see the benefits of gene technology for Victorian agriculture attracting more attention in the media.

The most encouraging development is the comment made by Premier Bracks, at the opening of La Trobe University's new AgriBioscience centre last month.

Mr Bracks said: ''Biotechnology is emerging as one of the most important drivers of innovation and growth for 21st century Victoria.

''The yield, quality, pest and drought resistance of our agricultural industry will depend increasingly on our understanding of the genes behind these traits and our ability to select for these traits''.

At last, farmers wishing to grow herbicide-resistant, genetically-modified canola varieties may have some chance.

The companies behind these products have brought new technologies to our industry through new techniques that are faster and more accurate.

The outcomes of these developments are deployed over 90 million hectares by 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries.

The current moratorium on the planting of federally-approved GM canola varieties precludes farmers from increasing profitability in an environmentally friendly way.

If Mr Bracks is genuine about innovation and progress, an announcement that the moratorium will end, before this year's cropping season begins, would significantly improve the financial position of farmers and Victorians.

Chris Kelly,Woomelang

Well, Mr Bracks is quite right, Biotechnology has the potential to improve crops and the best of biotechnology is non-GM. Our research is progressing well with the release of new varieties such as non-GM drought-tolerant wheat crops.
It is presumed by the writer that GM will increase profitability but there is no evidence of this. There is however far more evidence to show that GM will lower farmer profitability.

If farmers don't make money from GM crops, why do more and more farmers plant them?

Global Biotech Planting to Rise 10% This Year

- Rhea Sandique-Carlos, Dow Jones Newswires, April 25, 2006

The global land area used for genetically modified crops could rise by at least 10% this year from the previous year's total land area of 90 million hectares, due to growing adoption of biotech crops, the International Service For the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications or ISAAA said Tuesday.

The ISAAA is a not-for-profit organization that delivers the benefits of new agricultural biotechnology to developing countries. "We're optimistic it will be at least a double-digit improvement from last year," Randy Hautea, Manila-based global coordinator of ISAAA, told reporters on the sidelines of an international sugar forum in Manila.

"It will be safe and conservative to say biotech areas will increase by 10% this year," Hautea said, noting that areas planted with genetically modified crops improved by 11% to 90 million hectares in 2005, up from 81 million hectares in the previous year.

The growth will be driven mainly by expansion in genetically modified soybeans, cotton, corn and canola plantations, he said. Worldwide, areas planted with genetically altered soybeans account for 60% of total biotech areas, cotton accounts for 28%, canola with 15% and corn crops contribute 14%. In the Philippines, resistance to the commercial use of genetically modified corn has been steadily declining over the years since it was first introduced in 2003, Hautea said.

Areas planted with biotech corn totaled 70,000 hectares in 2005, a 34% improvement from the previous year, he said. In the past ten years, the use of genetically altered crops has resulted in global economic benefits of around $27 billion, and reduced more than 170 million kilograms of pesticide use, Hautea said