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[pf] NZ Greens riding high- "ban GM organisms (GMOs)" by davd 05 July 2002 02:53 UTC |
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· A world environmental news agency, PlanetArk, reports on the New Zealand election campaign's response to the GMO debate; http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/16698/story.htm is: NZ's Green Party benefits as GMO debate grows NEW ZEALAND: July 4, 2002 WELLINGTON - New Zealand's Green Party, which could be a key power broker after this month's election, made further ground in opinion polls yesterday benefitting from its call to ban genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The party vowed in May to bring down any future government [in October 2003] if it tries to lift a ban on the use of GMOs, putting it at loggerheads with the ruling Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark which wants to lift the ban next year. Opinion polls put Labour well ahead of the main opposition National Party, with the Greens, which has supported Labour on key issues, running third ahead of the July 27 general election. A New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll poll yesterday gave the Green Party 9.6 percent support, its highest level in the poll's five-year history and almost double the support the party received in other polls in April and May. The New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll had Labour at 51.2 percent support and National at 24.6 percent. The Greens stance on banning GMOs is mirrored by a high-profile non-partisan group of New Zealanders, including actor Sam Neill. Around two-fifths of New Zealand's NZ$32.6 billion annual exports involve food, but anti-GMO activists say the country of 3.9 million people and 44 million sheep should market itself as clean, green, and free of GMOs. But scientists warn without GMO field trials New Zealand's food sector is likely to be left behind and big companies will move research activities offshore. "RANSOM" Reuters' four-poll moving average puts support for the Greens at 8.2 percent, showing a gain of around three percentage points since it issued its GMO ultimatum. The centre-left Labour has remained steady at 52.8 percent, a level that would give it an absolute majority if matched at the ballot box under New Zealand's German-style system of proportional representation. Labour, which has 49 seats in the current parliament, has governed for three years in coalition with the left-wing Alliance Party, which has 10 seats, with support from the Greens seven MPs on crucial votes. However, the Alliance has split leaving the Greens as the third party in the 120-seat single chamber. Both Labour and National have condemned the Greens GMO position. Clark says the Greens GMO policy has virtually ruled them out as a coalition partner for "holding to ransom" a future government. Greens' co-leader Rod Donald says he hopes Labour will compromise. "For the period of the campaign we are going to have an impasse, but I expect we will all sit down and talk it through afterwards. Labour have left themselves some wiggle room on that issue," he said. The newly formed non-partisan Sustainability Council of New Zealand is lobbying for the GMO ban to be extended by five years, said Neill, star of the "Jurassic Park" movies. "I would urge the present government and the incoming government to seriously reconsider this lifting of the moratorium, and to give the people of New Zealand time to consider and to debate this most critical of issues," Neill said in a videoed statement to a press briefing. Story by Graeme Peters REUTERS NEWS SERVICE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - sent to Positive Futures by David. David MacClement - Civis Mundi d1v9d @ bigfoot.com ZL1ASX http://www.geocities.com/davd.geo/index.html _____________________________________________________________ Get your free web-based email today ---> http://mail.thames.net.nz _____________________________________________________________ Promote your group and strengthen ties to your members with email@yourgroup.org by Everyone.net http://www.everyone.net/?btn=tag ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: csf@moscow.com EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?aVxifP.a4zisF Or send an email to: positive-futures-unsubscribe@igc.topica.com T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
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