Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Fitzsimons Jeanette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:610;Page:7145] 
10.  
JEANETTE FITZSIMONS (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister for the Environment 
: Is it still her intention that “a strict regulatory framework will be maintained” for the commercial release of GM organisms and does she still believe that “the effectiveness of the Environmental Risk Management Authority is a key element in this regulatory framework” as stated in the Speech from the Throne last year? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS (Minister for the Environment) 
: 
 Yes. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: What changes to the Environmental Risk Management Authority’s methodology or processes have taken place to ensure more accurate risk assessment given the finding of the review that “the benefit of not approving a risky development or containment has not been given the same attention as the supposed benefit of taking the risk”? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: From memory it was Mr Nahkies who made the comment about the methodology employed by the Environmental Risk Management Authority saying that he thought it needed to be far more flexible rather than continuing the restrictive manner it had been used to working in. Work is being done on that matter. 
David Parker 
: Is the Minister satisfied that the Environmental Risk Management Authority has the capability to do its job? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: Yes. That was confirmed by the rigorous and thorough review conducted by the Graeme Nahkies - led panel which considered that the Environmental Risk Management Authority had the necessary skills and experience to carry out its role. Once the Environmental Risk Management Authority has implemented the review’s 49 recommendations the authority’s expertise will be further strengthened. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Where the review report recommends that “if it should continue on the broadening of risk management understanding to meet the requirements of the Act” does it mean—as it seems to—that the risk management requirements of the Act are not currently able to be fully met by the Environmental Risk Management Authority? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: My understanding from reading the review and the report of the review is almost the reverse: the Act asks the authority to be more flexible in the way it considers risk. The report states that some of the methodologies and protocol set out in the Act have been far too restrictive and time-bound. 
Larry Baldock 
: How will the strict regulatory framework apply when the moratorium ends on 29 October? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The Environmental Risk Management Authority will then be able to consider applications for the release of genetically modified organisms case by case. The British announced today in their particular review that they also want a methodology that considers organisms on a case-by-case basis. For an application to be successful in the future it would have to meet stringent minimum standards designed to protect the environment and the health and safety of the community. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: How does the Minister square her statement that the Environmental Risk Management Authority has the necessary skills with the finding of the review that authority members lack crucial skills in gene technology ecology and social science; and that among the staff “there is a notable lack of professional representation in environmental or public policy development and in strategic planning at senior management level.” and what is being done to replace authority members and staff with those who have the skills required? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: The review panel was clear that the authority contained a good cross-section—and I can give the member the exact quote—of the necessary skills and experience but it said that appointments should be used to beef up the authority’s capability in the areas that the member mentioned. I will be appointing new members to the authority to do just that. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: What has been done to ensure that there will not be a recurrence of the monitoring mishaps the tardy compliance reports the non-detection of errors and the tensions between the Environmental Risk Management Authority and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry over controls and monitoring that the review states makes the system of risk management most vulnerable? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: Changes introduced by the New Organisms and Other Matters Bill clearly give the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry the responsibility for monitoring and enforcement. The chair of the Environmental Risk Management Authority and the chief executive officer of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry are working through the issues to make sure the changes are implemented effectively. However I would like to comment that one of the systemic shortfalls discussed in the review and referred to by the Green Party in 5.5.5 concerned an incomplete new plant register not a genetically modified organism. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: In the light of the fact that the same authority members and the same chief executive are in place 4 months after the review was received by the Government and that little has been done to change the culture of the organisation why should the public believe that the authority will be competent to handle the much more complex and risky task of assessing applications for the release of genetically engineered organisms in just over 3 months’ time? 
Hon MARIAN HOBBS 
: In respect of the authority membership there is a regular appointment schedule and we are currently in the process of replacing people whose time has come up. With regard to the culture of the authority and the people in place: as I referred to the 49 recommendations made by the report have immediately been taken up and undergone by the authority and its report on what it has done will be released within weeks.