Letter to minister re: GM foods

I was able to catch the recent Land line program on ABC 1 regarding GM Canola farming in Australia and I felt compelled to write to our local Agricultural Minister Michael O'Brien.
I wanted to write for two reasons -
1 to congratulate him on our state governments stand on GM foods and
2 to voice my views on the current opinions of our Federal minister Tony Burke.

I am feeling very proud that our state is not succumbing to national pressure and I strongly believe we need to support our ministers and organic / bio-dynamic producers where we can.

I have included a copy of the letter I wrote and I strongly encourage anyone who also feels compelled to write a letter of support to do so. We need to hold firm on this decision and continue to protect our state from this agricultural threat.

Here is my letter:-


Dear Minister O’Brien,

Can I say firstly a huge thank you for your stand on the current GM debate in this country and for your leadership in helping to maintain the integrity of our fabulous state.



I was very disheartened by the opinions of the Federal minister Tony Burke and his belief that the time for banning GM has passed and that he doesn’t think there’s an argument to stop GM.

The tension I felt also, regarding his comments, that he eventually sees all the mainland allowing GM crops was somewhat eased by your statement that hopefully SA never adopts this technology and that you recognise we have a specialist niche market. It is a shame our whole country doesn’t share your view.



As far as I can see the main argument from farmers embracing this technology is regarding the control of weeds and the right of farmers to have access to the latest most profitable technology.

There are flaws in both these arguments that I can see (and I am no expert on agriculture).

Firstly farmers signing up for GM via a licensing agreement are locked into buying only that companies seed, often at 20% more than conventional seed and once harvested they receive $5 less per tonne than non GM Canola – how is this more profitable? It also raises the issue of control by big corporates.

Secondly there is the issue of weed control – the argument was that GM can reduce the amount of chemicals used to eradicate weeds?? How is using ‘Round Up’ chemical ready seed reducing chemical use? There are obviously other options to weed control as our organic and bio-dynamic farmers already must attest to. Perhaps there is more that can be done with supporting and promoting these clean green principals. Even the possibility of introducing one of my passions to the table in the form of Industrial hemp is a debate worth revisiting as (‘Industrial hemp improves soils’ physical condition, destroys weeds and does not exhaust (soils’) fertility’) (J.W Roulac 1997 Hemp Horizons page 131). It could be used as a rotational crop and every part of the hemp plant can be used with no toxic waste products associated with the processing.



May I wish you every success in maintaining your position on this issue for our state and for the integral future of organic/bio-dynamic farming.



Warm regards, Teresa