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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 9 Hansard (26 August) . . Page.. 3210 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

The technology for doing this is in very early stages and is primitive, as it is impossible to accurately predict the effects of an inserted gene. There can be hazardous substances generated and unpredictable results. The safety assessments are not fully reliable and are designed to ensure simplified procedures rather than rigour and are often left in the hands of the promoters of the product.

Knowledge of the ecological effects is very incomplete. Knowledge of the hereditary substance DNA is very limited. The argument that the technology will feed the world also has to be challenged, when even a cursory glance at world hunger shows the problem is political. World Health Organisation figures and other figures show we are currently generating 11/2 times the amount of food necessary to feed every man, woman and child on earth with a nutritious diet.

The problem is distribution, not shortage. I am reminded of a sticker that was around in the 1970s, "Food for people not profit". It still stands. I really do not understand why the ACT government has not taken its responsibilities more seriously in this critical policy area, and I think it is extremely regrettable.

The fact that previous ministerial councils have approved an inadequate regulatory system should be challenged by this government in the interests of protecting future generations from a genie which will not be able to be put back into the bottle and which may be far from beneficial for the earth's biodiversity and agricultural capacity.

MS DUNDAS (5.05): The ACT Democrats will be supporting the Gene Technology Bill today. We understand that it is the end result of a long process of development and agreement between Australian jurisdictions to ensure a nationally coordinated approach to genetic technology. It is good to see a national approach being sought on this issue, even though there are the flaws that have been pointed out. We do need to understand that there are certain things that borders cannot contain and genetic technology is definitely one of them. The area of gene technology, like information technology, is one where the fast development of new science has the capacity to outstrip our legislative framework and laws, so that we are now playing catch-up with regard to how we regulate the area.

Genetic technologies have the capacity to do tremendous good in our society, but they can also have negative consequences. The possible benefits to medicine, for example, may be enormous, including the possible use of gene therapies to cure a wide range of illnesses, such as diabetes, haemophilia, cancer and dementia. Genetic technologies are already used in the pharmaceutical industry, where genetically modified organisms are used to mass produce hormones or other biochemicals, such as factor 8 or insulin.

The proponents of genetic engineering also point to the theoretical benefits of gene technology in the field of food production. The ability to produce edible plants that grow quickly and are resistant to a variety of insect pests and plant diseases opens the possibility of the cost of food production being significantly lowered. Whilst the point has been made that we already have enough food in this world, allowing countries to control the production of their own food in arid regions can be a benefit of gene technology moving forward.

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