Eckhoff Gerrard: New Organisms and Other Matters Bill — In Committee 
Eckhoff Gerrard: New Organisms and Other Matters Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:611;Page:8864] 
GERRARD ECKHOFF (ACT NZ) 
: 
 I think I heard the point being made that in fact the commencement of this bill will occur on 30 October which is the day after the moratorium is lifted—not wiped out by law; Jeanette Fitzsimmons is absolutely right—on 29 October. This bill will come into force the very next day on 30 October. There is quite a significant difference. 
To me one of the most important reasons for the lifting of the moratorium and indeed for the commencement of this bill is that with some degree of luck and a fair wind we may well see the hysteria that has been generated by the Greens over the commencement of this bill start to subside once the realities start to strike. I shall read an article on this subject from the  
New Zealand Herald 
 on 10 July 2003: “A man described as ‘a brilliant scientist’ ”—we do not have too many in New Zealand—“has quit his job after breaching strict containment rules imposed to stop the spread of genetically modified organisms. 
“Dr Richard Forster who was chief scientist of the plant division at Genesis Research and Development was suspended last month after he took willow plants from a containment facility in Parnell to his property … near Pukekohe. He chose to resign even though the willow plants had not been genetically modified.” That article illustrates vividly why we have to move forward and relatively quickly to stop this nonsense. I have not had time to find out what exactly has happened to Dr Richard Forster but it seems to me that this country can ill-afford to lose scientists of this nature—“a brilliant scientist” as he has been described in the  
New Zealand Herald 
. 
On 30 October the science community will start to get a little bit of certainty surrounding the whole issue of GM crops and GM food which seems to be occupying the minds of the Greens and a handful of other people at the moment. While we are talking about a specific date I make the point that this technology is not new. It is not just 6 months old or a year old. We are talking about technology that is 30 years old. 
Ian Ewen-Street 
: Rubbish! 
GERRARD ECKHOFF 
: The Green member Ian Ewen-Street says “Rubbish!”. What a wonderfully descriptive term he uses! The first genetic modification as I understand it took place in America 30-odd years ago when the ice-minus gene as it was known was inserted into strawberries. Other than Mr Ian Ewen-Street I do not know of anybody who has turned into a strawberry parfait as a result of eating those strawberries. Thirty years is a heck of a long time to have some sort of stand-down period. In that time—and it is important to talk about time frames because this part of the bill is talking about a time frame—over those 30 years to my certain knowledge not even one person has become ill because of having eaten or ingested genetically modified food. Yet the Greens tell us that it is hugely dangerous and too dangerous to release into the environment. 
The Greens are perfectly happy to release products that are very closely related to marijuana. Those products come into this country without an environmental impact report. That seems to be perfectly acceptable to the Greens. We have the impact of kiwifruit in this country; in some areas it is decimating native forests. That seems to be OK. But when we talk about genetically modified products or organisms that may well have a huge future in this country we are told that we should not proceed with releasing them. 
I want to talk just briefly about another issue surrounding the importance of the enactment of the bill. It is a concern that I have as a member of the agricultural community. So few members of this country seem to understand—