GM-free boost deflated

AGRICULTURE Minister Leon Bignell has admitted the State Government does not have solid economic data to support its decision to keep South Australia free of genetically modified crops.

In a parliamentary committee yesterday, Opposition spokesman Adrian Pederick asked what “what quantifiable economic data” the minister had to confirm that remaining GM-free delivered an economic benefit to SA.

“I do not think we have all the evidence in at this stage ... (but) it gives us a real selling point that we are different to other states of Australia and we are different to many ... around the world.”