GM Bill boost for farmers

Legislation to repeal the ban on genetically modified crops was introduced to Parliament last week and has been described as a huge milestone by the Pastoralists and Graziers Association, which has been advocating for the repeal of the Act for more than a decade.

The Bill, not likely to be debated until next year, will allow any crop approved by the Office of Gene Technology Regulator in Canberra to be grown in WA.

WA farmers can currently grow GM canola and cotton under exemptions in the Act introduced by the Liberal Party in 2008.

PGA spokesman John Snooke said the repeal of the ban provided farmers with confidence to continue to grow GM canola and gave researchers a certain pathway to market.

"With this State Act repealed, it means there can be no more political interference in the use of GM crops by farmers," he said.

Mr Snooke said there was a need to develop wheat and barley crops that were more frost and drought- resistant.

"Hopefully, the research community will see this as a green light to ramp up research using GM techniques," he said.

Member for Agricultural Region Paul Brown said the GM Crops Free Areas Act, introduced by the Labor Government in 2003, was put in place to protect markets but an expansion of markets since the introduction of the GM canola exemption showed the Act was no longer required.

"Since the commercial introduction of GM canola, we haven't seen any loss of markets," he said. "In fact, markets have opened.

"These are very discerning markets, like Japan and China, and they have been taking our GM canola at an expanding rate."

Labor spokesman for agriculture and food Mick Murray said his party was still opposed to GM crops but conceded it needed to be realistic about how it managed the issue.

"Once the genie is out of the bottle, it is very hard to get it back in," he said.

"We are still unchanged from our policy, but you can't just walk out there and say you're going to buy the farmers out - that's just not feasible or possible.

Mr Murray said he was concerned the Bill would allow Canberra to control the GM debate in WA.

"We want to run our State as we see fit and not have to ask Canberra what they think," he said.