Senate should disallow GM deregulation

11 November 2019
Gene Ethics calls on all Senators to disallow the Gene Technology Amendment (2019 Measures No. 1) Regulations 2019 when it comes to a vote in the Senate on Wednesday November 13. All genetic manipulation (GM) processes and products - including all new CRISPR gene-editing techniques and the GM animals, plants and microbes created - must now be notified to the Office of Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) for assessment and licensing, before any release. “But the government’s deregulation would allow the release of GM organisms into our food supply and environment without testing or expert assessment,” says Gene Ethics Director, Bob Phelps. >> download file

MR 19/08/19: Plan to end GM-free status betrays SA parliament and people

19 August 2019
The South Australian government’s plan to end the state's GM-free moratorium by amending regulations would betray the parliament and the people of the state. The ban on commercial Genetically Manipulated (GM) canola until 2025 has broad public and farmer support and should remain in place as parliament intended. >> download file

GM deregulation threat to 51% of global organic land

16 August 2019
Amended Gene Technology Regulations tabled in Federal Parliament would undermine Australia’s world leading organic food production. Many new CRISPR and other gene editing methods would be unregulated. >> download file

GM super-muscled pork may hit supermarket shelves soon

15 August 2019
Changes to Australia’s Gene Technology Regulations announced yesterday will allow a whole category of new GM animals, plants and microbes to enter our environment and food chain with no safety assessments or labelling. They already include super-muscled pigs and non-browning mushrooms. >> download file

Tasmania GM-free is the way to be

15 August 2019
Gene Ethics congratulates the Tasmanian Government on staying GM-free till 2029. However, the federal government deregulation of several GM techniques would undermine GM-free states - Tas, SA, ACT and NT. >> download file

Parties disagree over regulation of new GM methods

14 May 2019
Responses to Gene Ethics’ federal election questionnaire show major policy differences between political parties on how new GM methods such as CRISPR should be regulated. >> download file

All CRISPR SDN1 techniques deregulated

22 April 2019
On the pretext of backing health research, just a day before the election was called the federal government deregulated all SDN1 GM techniques for use in humans, animals, plants and microbes. Unregulated GM organisms could already include super-muscled pigs, non-browning mushrooms, and a GM wheat variety approved in the USA. >> download file
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/m

Ministers to discuss GM animal deregulation

20 March 2019
If State and Federal Agriculture Ministers agree to Gene Technology Regulation changes, Australia would be the first country in the world to deregulate GM animals. The Federal Government backs deregulating a whole class of new GM CRISPR processes and products - Site Directed Nucleases 1 (SDN-1) - used to modify animals, plants, microbes and humans. >> download file

US jury finds Roundup caused cancer: call for Australian review

20 March 2019
A jury in San Francisco has found Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide played a big part in triggering Edwin Hardeman's non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL). Gene Ethics calls on the Australian farm chemical regulator (APVMA) for a formal safety review of Roundup herbicide and glyphosate its 'active' ingredient. >> download file

Scientists seek halt on human gene editing

20 March 2019
Experts question the safety of new CRISPR gene editing methods and their living products. They question safety and call for a global moratorium on heritable human gene manipulations. In the journal Nature they say, “the risk of failing to make the desired change or of introducing unintended mutations (offtarget effects) is still unacceptably high.” >> download file

SA government pro-GM crop report is rigged

22 February 2019
The South Australian government seeks to upstage a Parliamentary Select Committee review of the state's GM-free status that is still taking evidence in open forums. The state's parliament and people already agreed that the Genetically Manipulated (GM) Food Crop Ban should run until 2025. That should not change. >> download file

WA GM compensation inquiry ignores common law failings

14 February 2019
The West Australian parliamentary inquiry report into no-fault compensation for Genetically Manipulated (GM) crop contamination is toothless. It agrees there are many economic, legal, social and personal impacts from GM contamination but still backs going to court as the only solution. We disagree! The report is here: http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/commit.nsf/RelatedReportsLookup/349EC310D48F0B8D482581EF000C7A7C?OpenDocument >> download file