Press release - for immediate release 27th June 2003

Kaipara Gets Strong on GE

The Kaipara District Council has decided to limit the release of Genetically Engineered Organisms within the Kaipara District after the lifting of the moratorium which is due later this year. It has requested that its staff report to the August Council meeting on the methods which can be used and their likely effectiveness.

“This is a bold move for a conservative rural Council” according to Mayor Graeme Ramsey. “Two years ago such a decision would have been rejected but today the level of concern is so great that there was little doubt that something needed to be done.”

Council debated a number of options. It rejected the option of doing nothing as it believed that its role was to provide leadership within the community. Likewise it decided not to declare Kaipara a GE free area as this is largely a symbolic gesture. Rather, Council decided on a “precautionary” approach of seeking a means to limit the release of GMOs.

Mayor Graeme Ramsey told Council that after Council’s own research, and a considerable number of submissions and correspondence, it was time for Council to decide on a direction. "Scientific evidence is clearly divided and it does not provide a basis for decision making. Likewise the economic benefit is doubtful. While Council's legal position is unclear, as a community and a District we need more debate upon the subject. To do so we will need more time. Rushing into the release of GMOs will not provide the time necessary for the community to have such a debate".
Councillors in the debate pointed out that Kaipara is a food producing District therefore the issue was more than academic.

Several said that decisions such as this cannot be left to scientists’. Rather these decisions need to be taken by ordinary people using a range of criteria.

“This approach, which may commit the Council to the expenditure of money, is the most prudent approach in the face of a government which appears to be charging headlong into this area on the basis of very divided evidence.”

"This is a momentous decision. We recognise and accept the need to provide leadership. We hope in doing so to stimulate the debate on the subject that is needed within our community", said Mayor Ramsey.

Contact Numbers
Graeme Ramsey
025 748202
09 439 5668