GE releases may endanger native life, says researcher

This month's expiry of the moratorium on commercial release of genetically engineered organisms will place native flora and fauna at risk, says a Maori researcher.

Dr Leonie Pihama, director of the International Research Institute for Maori and Indigenous Education at Auckland University, said yesterday that the royal commission had given few Maori organisations a formal voice in its inquiry.

"Research undertaken by our institute on Maori views of genetic engineering clearly shows that our people are strongly critical of the lack of Government recognition of our rights as treaty partner to protect ourselves from such forms of manipulation," she said in a statement.

Dr Pihama recently returned from an "indigenous knowledge" conference in Michigan, where one speaker, Winona La Duke - a Native American activist and environmentalist - called for a moratorium on genetic research on wild rice.

Ms La Duke emphasised that wild rice - a native grass in North America - must be protected from manipulation and that universities that held genetic materials should safeguard the existence of the plant species in a natural state.

"We must take a similar stand here to safeguard our native plants, foods and animals, for future generations" Dr Pihama said.

She is a member of the Maori women's organisation Nga Wahine Tiaki o Te Ao, which made a formal presentation to the royal commission.

"The commission process was a farce," she said.

"A very small number of Maori organisations were granted status to be heard, which again flies in the face of the Government's treaty obligations."

Another member of the Nga Wahine Tiaki o Te Ao lobby, Glenis Philip-Barbara, criticised the moratorium's expiry on October 29.

"We are grappling with a Labour Government that is going to lift a moratorium against the wishes of not only Maori but of the majority of New Zealanders."

Ms Philip-Barbara said the Government should not be allowed to risk the land, its people and future generations by engaging a science that was still largely untested.

Individual whanau, hapu and iwi should send a clear message to the Government and prospective GE investors that they were not welcome on Maori lands.

"There are ways that we can take control back as Maori and we need to make it clear to this Government that they should not take for granted the Maori vote at the next elections, especially with how they are treating us in regard to key issues like genetic modification," she said.

The Government has said that when the moratorium is lifted applications for GE releases will be assessed case by cases by the Environmental Risk Management Authority.

- NZPA