Choudhary Ashraf: General Debates 
Choudhary Ashraf: General Debates 
[Volume:611;Page:8354] 
Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (NZ Labour) 
: 
 I rise to talk about the GM issue that has been spoken about earlier. I am someone who can actually understand what the difference is between tolerance probability levels and detection levels. I have been sitting on the GM inquiry and I have sat on the Education and Science Committee while it has listened to submissions on the New Organisms and Other Matters Bill. I have read through hundreds of pieces of paper and I have not come across any papers suggesting there was any contamination of sweetcorn in Gisborne. [ 
Interruption 
] I have actually seen all the data that has been presented to the committee and I have not seen any data suggesting any contamination at all. All the relevant tests that have been presented show negative GM in those samples. The only test that suggested positive results was due to an equipment failure where the control negative is a positive which clearly suggests that we cannot trust that particular sample. 
I will talk about how I see the future of GM around New Zealand and around the world. There are 58 million hectares of GM crops grown in 16 countries and that includes corn wheat cotton canola and many other crops. So the genie is out if you like. The GM crops are out there; there is no way we can go back and the sooner we realise that fact the better it will be for us. I have sat on the Education and Science Committee and listened to submissions on the New Organisms and Other Matters Bill. I have asked of almost every scientist who has given evidence: “Please give me evidence. Please give me a scientifically reviewed paper. Tell me whether there has been any evidence of an adverse effect of GM on human health or the environment.” Not a single piece of evidence has been shown in that committee at all. 
No scientist anywhere in the world has shown any evidence of an adverse effect on human health or the environment. However I can tell members that there have been positive effects. For example one-third of the cotton grown in Australia is now from a GE crop. In that situation it has been shown that pesticide use has been reduced by 50 percent by using a GE crop. In terms of our agriculture I feel that the use of pesticide is a more important issue than GM because excessive use of pesticides is destroying our land and our waterways. If there is anything we can do that will reduce the use of pesticides or herbicides it will be good for agriculture. 
What we need in this country is more informed debate. This country has gone through a royal commission of inquiry and I think we have done very well in that but we need a lot more informed debate. Members on the other side are suggesting that at least one sector of society is using really scary tactics. They are saying: “GM will do this and GM will do that.” but I have not seen any adverse impact because of GM crops. I believe that unless we do some research in this country and show leadership we will be left behind. I have been an agricultural scientist for 27 years and I know that the agricultural advancement we have made in this country has come about because in many ways we have led the development of agricultural science around the world. If we can do the research here and add value using the opportunities we have in this country to improve our agriculture rather than having patented crops coming from overseas then so much the better.