Review of National Gene Technology Scheme - Online Submissions

There is now clear evidence that the majority of people want natural sustainable food agriculture free of chemical interventions and genetically modified organisms ( and they are prepared to pay extra for this guarantee). There is no independent evidence that proves GMO are safe and in fact studies have found that prolonged use of food sourced from GMOs adversely affects the human gut. Irrespective of technological advances in gene technology the government has a responsibility to ensure it does not cave in to lobbyists promoting GMOs. The GMO promoters have the financial resources to promote their argument and to ascertain the the non GMO argument the government could easily hold surveys to gauge their opinions.

The DNA of organisms are NOT to be tampered with,

The rights of people who want to consume non GMO sourced food must be respected and any cross pollination from GMO crops needs to be prosecuted. To say it may not be possible to distinguish between GMO and non GMO food sources is totally wrong and unacceptable.

Please stop further GMO crops from being introduced. The Commonwealth Government needs to respect the State's rights to maintain moritoriums on GMO cropping.

GMOs should not be used to target an introduced plant, vertebrate or invertebrate pes

No major decisions on using there technologies should be made without clear proof the technologies are safe. Irrespective whether they are safe of not the majority wishes of the public should be respected if they do not want these technologies introduced.

I don't believe the make up of the body investigating these technologies is balanced i.e. GMO vs non GMO, therefore any regulatory scheme would be biaised.

Please leave this alone and let the States regulate the GMO issues.

Sorry but whose opinion will determine the
evidence of scientific and technical integrity that the aims of the Scheme (protection of human health and the environment) will be delivered? This cannot be delivered without all stakeholders being fairly consulted and I don't believe this is possible with the considerable lobbying pressure from the GMO promoters being applied.

No justification, all GMOs should be banned.

I am sure all stakeholders are aware of the growing resistance to GMO food cropping overseas. There is a unique opportunity for non GMO countries to provide exports with value added pricing. SA and Tasmania are in the unique position to provide this market due to their moritorium on GMOs. This is the future, why would you want ruin this opportunity?

I am emphatically opposed to any change to decision making on GMOs i.e. transferring from States to Federal.

This question and answer forum is good however I strongly object to the recent meetings that excluded me and others from the conversation. Where is the transparent consultation with the public who you represent? Its no wonder there is lac of trust in what you are doing.

I have previously alluded to this issue. Countries that ban GMOs will be the ultimate winners because they will benefit from exporting non GMO foods at a premium to GMO food producing countries like USA. Once you commit to GMO and allow it to spread it can never be reclaimed to a natural environment. This will ultimately be a contributing factor to the demise of the USA. Mass consumption of GMO produced food will only adversely affect the health of the population. The GMO promoting companies have hidden the real story of the affect on the health of people.

Maintaining GM moratoria will at least keep the wolves from the door i.e. GMO companies. I ask you to be strong on this. keep things the way they are, look to the longer term, we will benefit ultimately by not accepting GMO. I ask all on the members on your Board, would you honestly feel absolutely comfortable eating GMO foods yourselves?

Moratoria is the best mechanism save a complete banning of GMOs

How can we have trust in the scheme when there is so much perceived pressure from the GMO promoters? I would have to be suspicious of any extra funding when these promoters find underhanded ways that will sway opinion to agree with their views. This issue of GMOs has been around for a long time now and its widely accepted in the community that the GMO promoters have been putting constant pressure on Governments through underhanded financing.

Sorry, this is not a complex issue. Unfortunately the community has not been told the real story i.e. GMOs have not been categorically proven to be safe on human health. While there is doubt about the effect on health, good sense must prevail and we need to maintain moratoria indefinitely.

The only confidence we have about the scheme is allowing individual States to decide on moratoria. The federal regulatory body is not balanced in terms of considering all aspects on the community of gene technology. Where are the community forum discussions that promote transparency?

The federal regulatory body is not balanced in terms of considering all aspects on the community of gene technologies. Surely you could include some members that represent the non GMO arguments? or are you afraid you might be proved wrong?

We need to have a proper debate and more transparency on fors and cons i.e.get the relevant interest groups together and have discussions. We are hearing only one side of the argument.

The public needs irrefutable proof the gene technologies for food production are safe. There are too many arguments refuting this claim and there dangers of cross pollination of GMO and non GMO crops and affects on the livelihood of non GMO farmers. There is also no clear labelling on supermarket shelves of GMO content. The public are willing to pay extra for labelling but the GMO promoters have resisted this.

Unfortunately, the public are generally unaware of the persistent pressure brought the bear on governments from the GMO promoting companies. The Russian Government has banned all GMOs in their country, you have to ask whose interests are they protecting here? I think they see the longer term gains by not accepting GMOs

GM wouldn't be an issue if it were not for the big GMO promoting companies pushing their agendas. The benefits of GMO sourced food are now being seriously questioned and the economics don't stack up.