GM protester evicted from select committee hearing

By SIMON COLLINS

A protester against genetically modified food was evicted from a parliamentary hearing last night after accusing MPs of being "money changers in the temple of democracy".

Karyn Amoore of the Auckland GE Free Coalition said she was one of more than 2000 people who lodged a submission against a bill that allows conditional release of genetically modified organisms after the current moratorium ends in October.

But she was not one of about 60 given permission to speak to Parliament's education and science select committee.

Committee chairman Brian Connelly ordered security officers to call the police after Ms Amoore interrupted submissions by HortResearch scientists at the opening of two days of hearings at the Centra Hotel at Auckland Airport last night.

Ms Amoore retorted: "You are the Pharisees and money changers in the temple of democracy. How dare you! You are complicit in this farce that the public are being denied their democratic right.

"I asked to speak. You know that."

Committee deputy chairwoman Jill Pettis said it was the first time in her 10 years in Parliament that a member of the public had been ejected from a committee hearing. Only MPs had been evicted before.

Green Party leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, a member of the committee, moved to the back of the room to support Ms Amoore, but said the committee had the right not to hear her.

Committee secretary Angela Van Dam said the committee had received 132 "substantive" submissions, and about 1040 form submissions from supporters of GE-Free New Zealand and another 900 from Greenpeace supporters.

GE-Free New Zealand has been invited to speak to the committee today and Greenpeace will be heard later.