10 Simple Things You Can Do
To Help Stop Genetic Engineering in Tasmania.


Feeling worried about unlabelled genetically engineered (GE) food and the uncontained trials of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), but don't feel able to do anything about it?
Below are a few simple things you can do to make your concerns count, most of which will only take a few minutes to an hour, and are effective ways of showing that as Tasmanians, we will stand up for our state's clean, green image, and refuse to be forced into accepting GE technology without proper research being conducted.
Contact details of most politicians and publications mentioned can be found at the end of the article.

 

1. Call talkback radio programs, and raise your concerns.

2. Write a letter to the Editor (refer to the attached list of addresses).

3. Attend your local council meeting, or phone your local councillors, and ask them to raise a motion supporting GE-free Council food services & a ban on the release of GMOs within their Municipality. If they don't 'have enough information' offer to supply them with the Information Pack & request a meeting to get their feedback on it.

4. Write to or call David Llewellyn (State Minister for Primary Industries), and Jim Bacon (Premier) and demand a halt to the release of GMOs into the Tasmanian environment for both trial and commercial purposes. Tell them that we need both rigorous proof that GMOs pose no threat to human health or the environment, and an international consumer acceptance of GE before Tasmania should allow GE here.

5. Write to or call PM John Howard, the Federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge and State Health Minister Judy Jackson, MHA, and demand that they make labeling of products containing GMO's and their derivatives compulsory. Tell them that you do not accept that refined GE products may not be labelled.

6. Phone, or better still, visit your local supermarket and ask to speak to
the manager. Ask her/him whether or not they stock GE food, and how you can tell if you're buying it. Tell them you won't buy any of their products unless you know they're GE free, ask for clear labeling of GE produce, and suggest they make their own home brand GE free. Buy organic wherever possible ­ certified organic producers are one of the few sources of food guaranteed GE free, and look for non-GE labels.

7. Contact companies that process foods and ask them about their GE
status. This is an easy one to do, as you need minimal information to raise your concerns, and most processed products have a free customer information hotline number written on them somewhere. Ask them for a written response, and tell them you won't buy any products containing GMO's. Congratulate those that have become, or are in the process of becoming, GE free. To contact a wider range of companies, get your hands on a copy of the Australian Consumers' Association GE Information brochure (see GE-Free Tasmania or the Tasmanian Environment Centre), for a list of companies with free-call 1800 numbers.

8. Ask your local restaurant or café if they know whether or not their food is GE free. If they don't, suggest that they ask us to help them conduct a free audit. Tell them that if they compile a complete list of all of their ingredients, we can assist them in their audit by investigating the products, and suggest potential non-GE alternatives.

9. Surf the Net ­ Get informed, and have your say at;

http://www.gm1.com
http://www.connectotel.com/gmfoods

10. There are news services covering GE issues at:

* The Organic Federation of Australia has a very informative site at
http://www.ofa.org.au

* Subscribe to Planet Ark's free, daily environment news service, which feature GE issues at wenremote@planetark.org

* Visit CHOICE Online ­ a group devoted to heightening consumer awareness on a number of issues. Use their search engine to view updates on GE at http://www.choice.com.au.

All of these sites will have links to other sites of interest - happy delving!

11. Share your ideas, information and concerns with family and friends.
The more people become informed, the less they like the idea of genetic engineering in any form.

*Come to a GE-Free Tasmania meeting, held on Monday nights at 6:30 pm, at Bob Brown's Office, 9th floor of the Marine Board Building, Hobart. For more information call 0418 564 019.
*Or, come to the upcoming drinks night, and talk to us about your interest in genetic engineering. There are many tasks, large and small, that need people to complete them, so whether you'd be interested in writing addresses on envelopes, talking with community groups, helping cafes go GE-free or writing a submission to the Federal Government, we're sure to have a job you can help with. We also have a wide array of information on various aspects of the GE issues, which you are welcome to browse through if you'd like more in-depth information.

Questions worth asking on radio, in letters, and of politicians:

* Why are the locations of uncontained crop trials of potatoes, canola and poppies being kept secret from the public?
* Has there been any investigation into the potential losses to Tasmania if we lose our GE free status?
* Will farmers be compensated for lost revenue to South East Asia, Europe and Japan, where they will no longer be able to export their produce?
* Will there be any compensation of organic farmers, who will lose their certification if their crops are found to have crossed with GE crops from neighbouring properties?

How to contact your elected representatives:

* Premier Jim Bacon, David Llewellyn, and Judy Jackson can be contacted at: Parliament House
Hobart, TAS, 7000

* David Llewellyn may be contacted directly by email or phone. If you send him an e-mail, write to both david.llewellyn@dpiwe.tas.gov.au and susand@dpiwe.tas.gov.au (his secretary, who will make sure he sees it). Call his office on 62 336454 to register your support for his GE free position, as they are keeping a tally of supporters and non-supporters.

* PM John Howard and Michael Wooldridge can be contacted at:
Parliament House
Canberra, ACT, 2600

Points to Raise with David Llewellyn

Llewellyn's responsibility to act
* If Llewellyn's government is serious about keeping its options open on the GMO issue, it must halt expanding crop trials now. He's said that he will legislate a moratorium on trials, which is great, but we're still waiting for it to be enshrined in legislation.
* If genetic contamination of industries that want to remain GE-free (salmon, viticulture, pome fruit, dairy, beekeepers etc, see following for industry statements) occurs, Llewellyn must accept responsibility for the huge economic loss to the state
* He has the power to act to halt GE contamination in exactly the same way he acted on diseased Canadian salmon
* Glib rhetorical commitment to a cautious approach may wash with the public now; it will not excuse him if Tasmania loses its GE-free status through his inaction and it will be Llewellyn who wears the consequences
* Merely asking farmers not to proceed with GE trials, without enacting legislation to formalise the moratorium base or providing compensation for those people already engaged in contracts (as Llewellyn did in late May) will be utterly ineffectual

Why any suggestion of GE and GE-free zones will be inoperable in practice
* Risk of real genetic contamination
* Risk of perceived contamination/ contamination by association (equally damaging to our trade prospects)
* Segregation costs have proved prohibitive to those countries which have attempted to produce both

Why Llewellyn's suggested restriction of a moratorium or ban to food crops is completely unacceptable
* Genes travel via outcrossing between related species and horizontal gene transfer through the wider ecosystem
* For example, GE eucalypt use in the plantation sector will inevitably lead to GE contamination of the state's honey industry
* Any exemption for poppy producers from a state ban will make a mockery of our commitment to clean green industry. The loss to key Tasmanian industry sectors of 'contamination by association' far outweighs the economic contribution to the state from the poppy sector (and let's face it, Tasmanian Alkaloids' threat to leave the state if a GE-free decision was made is pretty empty)
* Regardless of whether the State government deems GE to be compatible with clean green production, our international trade partners reject GE outright

Key process problems
* The Food Industry Council's submission process, which asks producers to provide their opinion on where Tasmania should go with the GE issue after one day's information exchange, is inadequate
* Llewellyn must make public what sources of information his Department is seeking additional to the FICT's recommendation
* Buz Green, Director of Serve-Ag (running the GE trials, key advocate of the state's adoption of GE) sits on the six person Board of the Department of State Development to whom the FICT provides information. This is inappropriate and a clear conflict of interest.