Fox denies party has ‘sold out’ on GE powers
Ge-free advocates have accused the Maori Party of ‘‘naivety’’ after it supported Resource Management Act reforms which could allow the Government to over-rule local councils’ ability to prohibit genetically modified organisms (GMOS).
However, Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox says the party has ‘‘severely reduced [the] overarching powers’’ originally proposed, and still supports Gefree horticulture and agriculture.
Anti-ge groups have expressed fears about section 360D of the Resource Legislation Amendment Bill, which would let Environment Minister Nick Smith prohibit a local authority ‘‘from making specified rules or specified types of rules’’.
Councils have fought off a number of legal challenges against their ability to set up Ge-free zones under the RMA, with the Hastings District Council, Whangarei District Council, and Northland Regional Council among those to have provisions.
Federated Farmers has said councils’ GMO rules could affect a Pexa-vec liver cancer trial at Auckland Hospital.
The trial received GMO release approval by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last year, but the Auckland Council’s new unitary plan bans the release of any GMOS in the city.
Soil and Health Association spokeswoman Karen Summerhays said the organic food organisation believed the RMA reforms would let the Government ‘‘over-rule councils and local democracy’’.
‘‘It is up to local communities – if they want to have rules around protecting their premium on their produce, then they should be allowed to do that, and it is imperative that they can.’’
While the EPA looked at the science of a new organism, Summerhays said it did not consider land management practices, which were more relevant to food producers.
‘‘For primary producers that want integrated land management and to be able to capitalise on . . . Ge-free produce, having someone in Wellington say, ‘Actually no, you’re going to get GMOS in your area, whether you like it or not’ [is not right].’’
She believed the Maori Party had been ‘‘quite naive’’ in not recognising the power of the clause, given their own commitment to making New Zealand Gefree.
‘‘I’m very surprised because their outcomes and their own documents say that they want to work with that [being Ge-free],’’ Summerhays said.
However, Fox said the Maori Party had ‘‘severely reduced those overarching powers’’, ensuring the minister would have to prove a conflict between the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act and the RMA before overruling councils.
‘‘People are saying we’ve sold out and rah rah rah and all that sort of stuff, but what we’ve done is we’ve negotiated extremely hard with the minister and we have pulled back so many of the things that he originally wanted to be in there.’’
Fox said keeping agriculture and horticulture Ge-free was ‘‘absolutely something we support’’, but she thought New Zealand could remain open to medical advancements like Pexa-vec.
The Maori Party had not guaranteed ‘‘full-ranging support all the way through’’ and would look closely at the drafting process, while it was possible changes could be made in the select committee process.
‘‘This is not the end, it’s certainly the beginning,’’ she said.
Smith has previously said ‘‘it does not make sense for local councils to duplicate the role of the EPA’’ in regulating the use of GMOS.
‘‘The problem with councils regulating in this area is that they do not have the technical expertise, resulting in regulations that have unintended consequences.’’ – Fairfax NZ